Theresa Anderson isn’t your typical diva. The Swedish-born temptress has been singing since she was 12 years old and won over a crowd of 6,000 in her homeland with the theme from The Deer Hunter. A short stint in the early ’90s as a vocalist with fellow Swede Anders Osborne led to marriage, and to her adopted American hometown of New Orleans. Having been reared on classic jazz and R&B, such as Mahalia Jackson made the move easy for the violin-playing teen vixen.
“Hearing that early on, everything made sense when I moved to New Orleans, because I felt like, ‘Wow, this is home.’” While the marriage didn’t last, her passion for singing and performing never wavered. During stays in Nashville and Austin, she released four independent recordings. And now she’s released Shine, a sexy, soulful collection of pop songs that should expand her grassroots following well beyond New Orleans. And with the state of the music industry, she’s happy to have the support of a smaller, artist-friendly record label, known for its jazz roster.
“Basin Street allowed me to make the record that I wanted to make. And they are providing me with the opportunity to get out of New Orleans, which was number one goal for me. You can stay in one place, but you’re not really going to grow if you stay in one place.”