by Richard SkellyYoung and up-and-coming is the best way to describe guitarist, singer and songwriter Anders Osborne. Osborne's fame has spread beyond the borders of New Orleans, a city where he first cut his teeth and developed a reputation for incendiary live shows. Osborne was born in Sweden in 1966. His father was a professional drummer and a jazz fan whose early 1960s jazz combo played clubs throughout Europe. At a young age, he became fascinated with the singer/songwriters of the 1960s and '70s, but then traced those artists' roots back to more basic blues. He traveled around the world, earning money from shows, and settled in New Orleans, where he has been based since 1990. Osborne artfully blends blues, funk, soul and classic R&B to create his own distinctive synthesis of styles. Osborne's most widely available album is 1995's Which Way To Here, recorded for the Okey/Sony label; two other independent-label releases may still be around in record shops. Live at Tipitina's appeared on Shanachie in 1998, followed by Living Room the next year. The introspective Ash Wednesday Blues was issued in early 2001.