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Anders Osborne’s collaboration with North Mississippi Allstars helped spark a creative resurgence

October 6, 2016 at 6:32 a.m. EDT
Anders Osborne has released two solo records this year: “Spacedust & Ocean Views” and “Flower Box.” (Dwight Marshall)

Swedish-born guitarist Anders Osborne has had a long, fruitful career ever since he moved to New Orleans as a teenager in the ’80s. But the rootsy rocker has never had a period quite as productive as the past two years.

Early last year, Osborne teamed up with blues-rock band North Mississippi Allstars to release “Freedom & Dreams” under the name North Mississippi Osborne. This year, he followed that with two solo records: March’s “Spacedust & Ocean Views” and July’s surprise release, “Flower Box.”

“I think I’m in a good place,” Osborne says. “I feel pretty satisfied so there’s less anxiety. I think that makes you more creative.”

Osborne, 50, isn’t quite sure what to make of his recent creative burst, but he credits his sobriety (eight years in January) and an effort to spend more time at home when not on tour.

“I’m pretty deep into my sobriety, which has cleared out a lot of nonsense,” he says. “There’s a lot of things going right. I spend enough time at home that I feel pretty anchored.”

The N.M.O. record, made in collaboration with North Mississippi Allstars co-founders (and brothers) Luther and Cody Dickinson, was a key moment. Osborne and Luther first linked up at a show at Tipitina’s during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2009 and have been touring together in various forms ever since.

[Luther Dickinson fulfills a lifelong dream with his ‘Blues & Ballads’ album and songbook]

“It all just clicked and we became soul brothers,” Osborne says. “What I get from [the Dickinsons] is clearly the reservoir of knowledge about folk music, Luther’s immense adaptability to playing guitar on anything and Cody’s beautiful nuances on the drums. I learn a lot every time.”

Playing with N.M.O., which is on a short tour that stops at The State Theatre on Friday, seems to have helped reinvigorate Osborne.

“What we try to do is figure what would be a common ground without just playing each other’s stuff,” he says. “Cody brings a high-energy dance element; Luther brings this really rural, folky, bluesy knowledge. I come from rock ’n’ roll and there’s a ballad sense mixed with raunchy New Orleans style. I think the mixture makes for something exciting but sensible.”

“Freedom & Dreams” came out mellower and more acoustic-leaning than the three expected.

“I did not see that coming,” says Osborne, who sings the album’s 11 songs. “I don’t think either one of us did. But we didn’t think about it too much — we just did it.”

Osborne applied that same principle to his twin 2016 solo releases. After coming into the studio with 100 songs, he picked 12 that fit together for “Spacedust & Ocean Views,” a mix of acoustic ballads and high-energy rock. Four songs that didn’t make the cut ended up on the eight-song “Flower Box,” which best approximates Osborne’s raucous, sprawling live shows.

“They’re kind of connected,” Osborne says of the albums. “Two sides of the same coin, I feel.”

Osborne has a busy schedule the rest of the year but he’s already thinking about his next album — and N.M.O.’s next album.

“We’re gonna record some more,” Osborne says of N.M.O. “I’m sitting on a lot of songs, preparing for my next [solo] record, and I’ve been sitting on them for quite some time. These other three records, they came pretty quickly. I just kind of wrote, we walked in and we did it. We’ll see what happens with the next stuff.”

State Theatre, 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church; Fri., 9 p.m., $32-$35.