Dawn Oberg is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is influenced by multiple genres, including jazz and cabaret.

Career

Oberg was born and grew up in Minnesota, where she wrote her first song at the age of 14. She later wrote what she called "perverse drinking songs" throughout her twenties. She attended

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

in Boston, after which she moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

in the mid-1990s. While in Nashville, she played in multiple country music bands, during which time she recalls having been influenced by Bob Dylan and

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

, before switching to playing piano-based songs influenced by R&B and jazz. The first band she played in was Honky-Tonk Happy Hour; she contributed to their first album before leaving to form a cabaret duo called Blossom Theory, in which she played piano. In 2008, she released her first solo album, ''Horticulture Wars'', followed by ''Rye'' in 2013 and ''Bring'' in 2015.

Reception

A review of ''Bring'' in

L.A. Record ''L.A. Record'' is an independent music magazine originally published weekly as a broadsheet poster. The poster usually depicts a local Los Angeles musicians and according to the magazine editors is meant to recreate an iconic album cover. In Mar ...

said that, with regard to lyricism, Oberg "has all helightly mocking wiseass of

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

plus a sentimental side very much in the old Master’s line, if completely beyond most of his imitators past and present."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

also reviewed ''Bring'' favorably, giving it an A− grade. In his review, he wrote, "Delivering nine expertly wrought songs in 27 minutes, bergplays acoustic piano over G-B-D with jazz gestalt, zero-plus solos, and a beat more martial than swinging." ChicagoPride.com contributor Gregg Shapiro wrote that Oberg "deserves a place alongside contemporaries such as

Ben Folds Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was th ...

and Aimee Mann," writing that on her songs, "Her lived-in voice is that of experience and she maintains a singular sense of humor." '' Mic''s Dan Weiss named Oberg's song "Nothing Rhymes with Orange" one of the 16 best anti- Donald Trump songs of 2017.

Musicians with whom Oberg has recorded

Horticulture Wars Chris Carmichael: strings, arranging; Dave Henry: cello; Matt Martin: drums; Al Perkins: pedal steel; Joe Pisapia: pedal steel; Jim Hoke: pedal steel, flute, clarinet, arranging; Kirby Shelstad: vibes; Jody Spence: drums Recorded by Robin Eaton Produced by Robin Eaton and Dawn Oberg Mastered by Marc Chevalier Rye Denny Geyer: guitar on track 11; Andrew Launcher: drums; Dave Mihaly: drums; Bill Noertker: bass; Roger Rocha: guitar; Chris Von Sneidern: guitar on track 1; Erik Ian Walker: B3; Jeff Brown: bartending Recorded by Nathan Winter at Hyde St. Studios Bring Mark Corradetti: bass; Billy Mason: drums; Roger Rocha: guitar; Erik Ian Walker; Jim Hoke: wind arrangement on track 4 Recorded by Nathan Winter Mastered by Michael Romanowski It's 12:01 Mark Corradetti: bass; Micah Dubreuil: B3; Andrew Laubacher: drums; Roger Rocha: guitar Recorded by Scott McDowell Mastered by Piper Payne Nothing Rhymes With Orange Andrew Laubacher: drums; Shawn Miller: bass; Roger Rocha: guitar; Erik Ian Walker: B3 Recorded by Nathan Winter Mastered by Jonathan Rego at Coast Mastering

Discography

*''Horticulture Wars'' (2008) *''Rye'' (2013) *''Bring'' (2015) *''Salvation Army Santa (single) (2015) *''It's 12:01'' (single) (2016) *''Nothing Rhymes With Orange'' (EP) (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberg, Dawn American cabaret performers Living people Musicians from Minneapolis 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women pianists Year of birth missing (living people)