Gleason Benefit Highlights
Busy Week for Anders Osborne

If you’ve been missing Anders Osborne over the past few months, rest assured that the local guitar hero is about to end his summer vacation with a vengeance. Next month will see the release of his new album Peace, a set he describes as “light from darkness.” The reflective track “Sentimental Times” off the forthcoming album gets its streaming world premiere on OffBeat.com’s First Listen series this week.

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Anders Osborne plays Gleason Gras this Friday, September 6. (Photo: Erika Goldring)

The coming months will find Osborne touring nationwide, hitting New York and California before boarding Jam Cruise 12 in January. Only two area shows are on the schedule, including the Best of the Bayou Festival in Houma on September 28. And his one scheduled show within New Orleans happens tomorrow night (Friday, September 6) at “Gleason Gras,” the annual Superdome event in honor of Steve Gleason, the beloved Saints safety who famously blocked a punt in 2006. Diagnosed with ALS in 2011, Steve formed Team Gleason to bring together some of the world’s leading scientists in search of a cure.

Playing on his behalf tomorrow will be a stellar lineup including Osborne, Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra, John Michael Rouchell, The Breton Sound, and a “Galactic and Friends” set that will team the funkateers with some jamming partners (probably including Doug Wimbish and Maurice Brown, who’ll be joining Stanton Moore at the Blue Nile’s grand re-opening bash later that same night). There will also be food from a dozen restaurants, appearances from some of the Saints, and of course, plenty of opportunities to yell a rousing “Who Dat.”

Gleason Gras happens from 4 p.m. – 10 p.m. on Friday, September 6 in Champions Square at the Superdome; general admission is free but tickets are available in the “Tailgate Zone” for $75 or VIP tickets for $300. More Info:  www.gleasongras.org