Band Profile

by Charis Patires

Band brings diverse backgrounds to Lake area

Todd Osbern knew at an early age he wanted to be a performer, but he was painfully shy. His social anxiety kept him from listening to that internal fire to entertain others.

When it came time to decide what to do in life, he decided to pursue a psychology degree. He stumbled upon an instructor at Drury University, Ty Pierce, who inspired him. Pierce was an amateur magician and would do tricks during breaks in the three-hour night courses Osbern was taking.

“I expressed interest. He taught me a few card holds and shuffles and I got into it,” Osbern said. “Not only did it help me get over my social anxiety, but I ended up booking high-paying gigs as a magician at Missouri State University, Drury and Big Cedar Lodge. I tried something new and people were immediately and spontaneously reacting with praise.”

Osbern had taken an acting class before and decided to take some acting classes during the day. He auditioned for a play, and was given a small part which earned him an award for “Best Cameo.” After that, he was given a lead role in almost every play for three years. He won a “Best Actor Award” at Drury in 2003, graduating with a psychology major and theatre minor. He’s acted in many plays at Landers and Vandivort theaters in Springfield and picked up the acoustic guitar to learn how to turn some of his poetry into songs.

“I started getting paid to play in front of people, eventually leading to getting up the nerve to play with others that were far more talented musically,” Osbern said. “Since then I’ve written over 60+ original songs, played literally thousands of gigs over the course of the last 12 years consistently, and I’ve been so incredibly lucky to have shared stages with some of the most phenomenally talented musicians I’ll ever meet.”

After his partner in a duo called “Canto 17” was injured, Osbern got together with a few other musicians and played for a couple of years. As players moved on he eventually formed Hometown Tourist, which today consists of Osbern on vocals and rhythm guitar, Eric Rosseau playing percussions and drums, and Matt Streuber on bass and lead guitar.

Q&A

What style of music do you perform?

Describing our original music is always a bit of a challenge but one description I’ve heard that I felt was pretty accurate: an upbeat, edgy, earthy, improv driven, dynamically versatile, three-piece version of a new-age Dave Matthews Band. We play a ton of original material (over 60 original songs), along with hundreds of covers from all genres and decades of music, putting our own unique acoustic flavor on the covers. With three diverse backgrounds amongst the players, elements of funk, jazz, rock, singer-songwriter, world beat, and jam band come through at various times in the music. We sprinkle in some complex ideas and methods of creation while remaining palatable to a wide range of listeners.

Photo provided

Are you influenced by any musicians/bands?

We are all literally influenced by every bit of art and music we consume. We have diverse musical tastes and backgrounds but we all love REAL music.

What is it about performing that you all enjoy?

I love the fact that performing music on stage forces a musician to be deeply involved in the moment. The present moment is the only thing that truly exists. We want to bring value and abundant joy to that moment for others in attendance, so that when they walk away they feel impacted in a positive way by the time we shared.

Get Connected

Hometown Tourist Band on Facebook hometown_tourist_sgf on Instagram Hometown Tourist on GigSalad www.msha.ke/toddosbern