Guitar Prodigy Headlining Skipper's Smokehouse Sunday

‘Tis the weekend for some good friends, good barbecue and some good blues music.

If you head down to Skipper's Sunday night, you’ll be sure to get all three, because 17-year-old blues-rock sensation Conrad Oberg is coming to the smokehouse, ready to melt some ears and get people on their feet and dancing to his blues-rock sound.

He may be young, but the talented musician already has a resume any practicing musician twice his age would envy, and the chops to prove it.

Already an accomplished piano player, he cut his first album when he was 9 years old. In Memphis. At Sun Studio. And, wait for it, using the rockabilly pianomeister Jerry Lee Lewis’ very own  backing band. At midnight, while they were recording the album, Conrad turned 10. That’s when his dad gave him his first guitar, and the rest was history. In 2008, 12 million viewers of the Cartoon Network Show “Props” voted him the most talented teen musician in the country.

“Conrad always had an incredible auditory memory,” said his dad, Michael. But he also said that Conrad, who has been blind since birth, also had the passion and drive to practice everyday to get where he’s gotten, and to where he’s going. “People always tell me he’s a natural-born musician, and I always joke ‘yeah, the more he practices, the more natural-born he gets,’” Michael said.

So what can people expect at the show? Well for starters, some blazing blues, backed by some of the most talented area musicians around, including former members of the Mofro Band as well as current members of the Donovan Frankenreiter Band. “You’re going to hear a little bit of everything: blues, rock, some surf, everything,” Conrad said, adding that the show will feature him playing piano as well. “It will probably be a third piano, a third slide guitar and a third regular guitar."

Conrad will also have his two albums for sale at the show, including the one he recorded in Memphis, “Decade” and his latest, “Old School,” which features classic blues tunes. They can also be ordered from his web site at www.conradoberg.com To get a taste of his blues music, you can also go to http://www.myspace.com/89768770 to hear his great rendition of “Catfish Blues.”

Conrad also regularly posts his songs to YouTube as well; if you search for “Conrad Oberg 2011” you’re liable to find tasty numbers like his renditions of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Texas Flood”  or Chuck Berry’s “Let it Rock.”

This will not be the first time he’s played at Skipper's. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Oberg has played just about everywhere in the Sunshine State, as well as in key venues across the United States, including Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero juke joint in Mississippi and opening at the 40th anniversary of Woodstock in upstate New York.

Skipper's is one of his favorite places to play, he said.
“I love playing outdoors,” he said. “It’s a warm and intimate setting that’s a lot of fun.”

The show starts at 5 p.m. Tickets are $7 advance, $10 the day of the show.

Skipper's Smokehouse is located at 910 Skipper Road. For more information, call (813) 971-0666. To learn more about Conrad Oberg, log onto www.conradoberg.com.