In a time when so many musicians are struggling to make ends meet, the Brothers Osborne are taking time to reflect upon and appreciate where they are in their career.
“We are extremely fortunate to have had some success and be at a place in our career where we could absorb something this heavy and have fans who are still there supporting us that are gonna be there for us when we come through this,” lead vocalist TJ told attendees at the virtual ASCAP Experience conference Thursday afternoon.
The Osbornes have spent quarantine reconnecting with loved ones and developing new hobbies such as cooking, fishing and painting.
“Burnout is a real thing,” admitted John Osborne, the lead guitarist and backing vocalist. “Through this pandemic and having to stop, all I really needed, for myself, personally, was just to learn how to not work hard. You become addicted to work.”
That’s not to say the Brothers Osborne are showing any signs of slowing down, though. It’s the opposite actually — earlier this week, they announced the release date and track listing for Skeletons, the Grammy-nominated duo’s third studio album. As it turns out, completing this record was quite the Herculean task. During the recording process, the Brothers Osborne faced various health and logistical issues.
“I started dealing with this really bad thing called tinnitus,” revealed John. “I had to take a break from music for a while.”
That was only the beginning. After they were able to get some songs recorded, the pair faced production delays due to the tornadoes that hit Nashville in early March. Around the same time, TJ contracted salmonella.
“There was no time for me to really be like, ‘Ah, we’ll do it next month.’ It was either do it now, or the record’s gonna be delayed a very long time,” TJ explained.
“Just getting the record done was nearly impossible,” John remarked.
Despite the additional hang-ups imposed by the pandemic, fans can expect the twelve-song album produced by the Osbornes’ longtime collaborator, Jay Joyce, to arrive October 9. It will include “All Night,” the high-energy lead single released in May. The brothers promised that the record would feature an instrumental track as well. For the first time, there will also be a song with a verse during which John Osborne will sing lead.
Describing the new album’s sound as “very big, very produced, very deviant,” John believes that while it’s important to be true to yourself, artists should continue to evolve and grow as people.
“I don’t think you want to stay who you were, you just want to stay who you are.”
