He's Swedish by birth but, in terms of spirit, artistic temperament and zip code, blues-rock guitarist/songwriter/singer Anders Osborne is like a lot of wandering musicians who end up settling in New Orleans.

The experience was instantly transformative - and continues to be, as evidenced by his latest Alligator Records release, "Peace." Released late in 2013, "Peace" won Best Rock Album earlier this year at Offbeat magazine's annual "Best of the Beat" ceremony; Osborne also won for Best Rock Artist, Songwriter of the Year and Best Producer. It was the third straight year Osborne won the Best Songwriter award.

"When you settle anywhere - but particularly in an environment like New Orleans - there's a profound desire to just dive in," Osborne says by phone from his home in the Mid-City neighborhood. "You experience the food and music and art and nooks and crannies and architecture and new friends ... and all you want to do is become part of it. It's obsessive."

But Osborne, who headlines Sunday's lineup at the Rhythm & Roots Festival in Charlestown, has been through a lot of similarly formative experiences - some good, some not so much - since he moved to the French Quarter in 1985 and immediately fell into a developing scene at a club called Igor's Checkpoint Charlie's. He began a longtime Tuesday night residency, started performing with a variety of the city's astonishing musicians, and quickly became a local and then national presence through much-lauded albums like "Doin' Fine," "Break the Chain" and "Ash Wednesday Blues."

The songs and music on those records reflected his inborn blues passion but also increasingly displayed the e'er expansive influences he was absorbing in the fertile and cross-pollinated Crescent City music scene.

But problems with drugs and alcohol, as well as the literal and emotional devastation that resulted when Hurricane Katrina virtually destroyed New Orleans in 2005, ultimately had profound effects on Osborne's career and art. Two years after the storm, he released a stunning, Katrina-themed album called "Coming Down," which was by far his most "New Orleans" album. The stripped down, mostly acoustic music not only reflected the imprint of artists ranging from Dr. John to Snooks Eaglin but also, in lyrical narratives of poetic depth, described his own sense of place and loss in the community.

"That record was a big turning point for me," Osborne says. "I originally wrote from a position of despair and that ultimately helped me realize I no longer felt like I was still a visitor trying to fit in. I learned I belonged here and wasn't so consciously narcissistic about being here. That was a positive."

That self-awareness is obvious listening to the songs on the record. "I grew a lot as a writer because so much had changed in such drastic fashion," he says. "There's a humility and unassuming quality - but something wonderful also happened. The album started as just a series of demos recorded at a friend's house - because I had to get this music out - and gradually so many wonderful people started getting involved and it all came together and I think it helped us all to try to make sense of what happened with Katrina."

Osborne also got married and became a father to two children - and family was a huge catalyst for him, in 2009, to get sober. He was soon thereafter offered a deal with the prestigious Alligator Records label and the songs he's written since then are by far his most diverse and adventurous. Over the course of three albums - "American Patchwork," "Blackeye Galaxy" and "Peace" - and an EP titled "Three Free Amigos," Osborne's style has morphed into exhilarating guitar rock, acoustic tapestries, Sonic Youthy guitar explorations and elegaic balladry. His lyrics are astute and can adeptly express anger, poignancy, humor and spirit - and Osborne's powerful and emotive voice sounds stronger than ever.

"In my sobriety over the past five years, there have been different phases I've gone through, and those were evident on the first few (Alligator) albums," he says. "On 'Peace,' the songs are not so much about the confusion of addiction. Things have really started to come together. I can look at the past as what happened in life and now it's time to move on."

These sentiments are explored - both the good and bad - on "Peace." The driving, haunting, infectious "Windows" has Osborne recalling the wild days with frank and somber amazement. On "Five Bullets," with its Sabbathy riff and a vocal delivery like Anthony Kiedis, he takes a caustic look at a real-life shooting of five teenage males by a juvenile just after New Orleans' annual Martin Luther King, Jr. parade - and wonders if such things are a national epidemic.

"'Five Bullets' is based on an actual incident," Osborne says. "I took the reality of our shooting and it kind of got me going. But it's such an ongoing problem, and it's not just an issue in New Orleans or a few select cities. It's just reckless and I can't get my head around it. Where's the switch that goes from someone having breakfast and then going out and shooting people?"

The back end of "Peace," though, includes "Dream Girl," "Sarah Anne" and "My Son," and underscores how much family and friends mean to him in his sobriety.

"On this album, there's a lot of gratitude to my wife and children for where I am right now," he says, "but it goes beyond that, too. I have gratitude and appreciation for the good friends I've made and for my musical co-workers and just a lot of good people that have helped so much."

Going to number one

It's a fact that, when songwriter J.J. Cale learned his song "Cocaine" had been recorded by Eric Clapton, he went immediately to a car dealer and, in anticipation of big royalties, bought a new Cadillac.

In 2004, country superstar Tim McGraw had a number-one single with "Watch the Wind Blow By," a tune Anders Osborne co-wrote with Dylan Altman. Osborne was asked, when he learned McGraw had taken the song to the top of the charts, if he replicated Cale's celebratory Cadillac purchase?

Osborne laughs and says, "I bought a house. My wife and I had already picked one out, then we got a phone call that 'Watch the Wind Blow By' was going to be a single. We went straight to the bank and said, 'You know that house we wanted? Well, we're, ah, gonna look at a different price range. We can afford a bigger mortgage.'"

IF YOU GO

Who: Anders Osborne

Where: Rhythm & Roots Festival, Ninigret Park, 4890A Old Post Road (Route 1A), Charlestown, R.I.

When: Osborne plays at 6:15 p.m. Sunday on the Festival Stage; overall event hours are 3 p.m. to midnight Friday and 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday and Sunday

Other performers include: Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun (6 p.m. Fri.), The Pine Leaf Boys (5 p.m. Fri., 2 p.m. Sat. and 6 p.m. Sun.), Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys (7:30 p.m. Fri., 8 p.m. Sat. and 10 p.m. Sun.), Jim Lauderdale (2 p.m. Sat.), C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band (10 p.m. Sat., 8 p.m. Sun.), Terrence Simen (7:45 p.m. Sat. and 5 p.m. Sun.), The Band Courtbouillon (5:15 p.m. Sat., 5:45 Sun.) and many more

How much: $45 Friday, $65 Saturday and Sunday; $165 full festival pass

For more information: rhythmandroots.com