Sound Observations with Anthology

Anthology is a stunning and state-of-the-art supper club located in downtown San Diego’s Little Italy. Get to know what upcoming shows you can’t miss in the new Sound Observations artist spotlight series.

Artist Spotlight: Earl Thomas

Earl Thomas is known for singing the blues, but for the first time in his two-decade career, he’s enjoying a rainbow of flavors.

“I’ve had several bands, but this one is MY band,” he said. “I have a band based on experience, not need.”

Thomas performs with this new band, the Blues Ambassadors, on Thursday, October 14 as part of Anthology’s Late Night Brews ‘N’ Blues Festival, and while he’s used the band name in the past, only now has the true meaning been personified.

“It’s a truly multi-cultural band,” Thomas said. “We have whites, Indians, Asians, Italians, blacks, creoles. We’ve covered the whole world – at least the whole U.S.”

This is important to Thomas, who first came to international attention while living in San Diego 20 years ago.

“I grew up in a multi-cultural environment. My dad was in the Army. I’m not comfortable around just black people. I like to have a real rainbow coalition,” he said with a laugh.

The way that Thomas ran into his band is something of a blues fairy tale that started out like a tragedy.

Read more of the Earl Thomas interview on anthologysd.com.

For tickets, reservations and more details please call 888.398.2895.

Artist Spotlight: Shawn Colvin

Shawn Colvin is playing two nights at Anthology (Oct. 14-15) and she admits that playing two nights at the same club sometimes presents some challenges to the set list.

“I do like to switch things up,” she says. “I’m playing two nights there and while I know that not many people will come to both shows, but it will still feel like the same crowd. I think the shows will be 25 percent the same.”

But she’s quick to add: “I do take requests.”

Although it’s highly likely that Colvin won’t be allowed to leave the Anthology stage without playing her mid-90s Grammy-winning hit, “When Sunny Came Home,” she says that some fan requests do trip her up a little.

“People will ask for a song that I sang exactly once, like there’s a song I did for the ‘Runaway Bride’ soundtrack called ‘Never Saw Blue,’” she said. “People want to hear that, but I sang it exactly once – in the recording studio.”

But she’s quick to add: “I should learn it.”

Colvin does her share of soundtrack songs and says she usually hears them for the first time in the studio. Not that that’s a problem.

“I don’t require a lot of control,” she said. “I like spontaneity and even a little bit of pressure.”

She’s quick to add that her biggest hit came that way.

Read more of the Shawn Colvin interview on anthologysd.com.

For tickets, reservations and more details please call 888.398.2895.

Artist Spotlight: Joan Osborne

When a recent “Glee” episode featured the cast singing Joan Osborne’s hit, “One Of Us,” there was a lot of interest and excitement from the singer’s fans.

“People have been talking to me about it and there’s interest online about it, and I’m happy the song is still relevant,” she said recently

But don’t ask Osborne what she thought about the episode. She still hasn’t seen it.

“Before my daughter was born, we got rid of all the TVs,” she laughed. “When I grew up, I was definitely a child of TV and I decided I didn’t want her to watch as much TV. I do have one that’s hooked up to videos – which she watches occasionally – but I’m going to have go on to Hulu to see it.”

Luckily, San Diego music fans don’t have to go on to Hulu to see Joan. She’s performing at Anthology on Friday, October 22 with just a pianist.
It’s a bit of a departure for Osborne, who usually performs with a full band.

“It is unusual for me,” she said. “It started when a Philadelphia radio station asked me to do it for a fundraiser. It was so much fun that we decided to try it out for a stripped-down tour. It’s great because I’m doing songs that I don’t usually do.”

Getting used to just one instrument took a little work.

Read more of the Joan Osborne interview at anthologysd.com.

For tickets, reservations and more details please call 888.398.2895.