Fourteen year-old musical phenom Conrad Oberg was born in the summer of 1994, weighing only 1 pound, 11 ounces as a result of being nearly 3 1/2 months premature. Following a stay of three months in intensive care, Conrad was left with no vision in his left eye and only slight (15%) vision in his right eye.
At the age of 2 1/2, Conrad was given an electronic keyboard, after his father had noticed that he was trying to play songs on his toy piano. By the age of three, Conrad had taught himself to play well enough that he could perform nearly any song he heard.
Conrad has been performing in public for over eight years. He recorded his first album when he was 10 years old, at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. Conrad performed the songs on the album backed by several members of Jerry Lee Lewis’ band, who volunteered a great deal of their time after hearing of Conrad’s talent. Conrad was allowed to perform the songs on the album using Jerry Lee Lewis’ vintage Wurlitzer piano, which still resides at Sun Studios. Conrad met Jerry Lee as he readied to leave Memphis at the beginning of a month-long European tour.
Conrad got his first guitar when he was 10. He taught himself to play right away.
In April of 2005 Conrad was honored to perform a three-evening engagement at the world-famous Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The Ground Zero Blues Club is co-owned by Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman and Bill Luckett, an attorney from Clarksdale.
In addition to local venues around Jacksonville, since 2005 Conrad has performed at NFL sanctioned SuperBowl events, the Tangerine Festival, Bike Week (Daytona 2006), various venues in St. Augustine, the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and San Antonio, Texas.
Conrad was also honored to perform with blues greats Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Mookie Brill when he was 11. The 92 year-old Pinetop Perkins (see photos & video) made fast friends with Conrad and the two enjoyed playing piano and visiting together for several hours.
In 2006 & 2007, Conrad performed at the annual national Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi with Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman in attendance. After the performance, Conrad and Mr. Freeman visited and discussed blues music until late in the evening. In 2006 Conrad was also lucky enough to perform with Chicago harmonica blues legend Billy Branch at the world famous Rosa's (see photos & video) in Chicago.
Conrad’s first album, (recorded the night before Conrad turned 10) entitled “Decade” features songs previously recorded by Sun Records greats: Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and others. Conrad also composed and performed an original song entitled, “Blonde Headed Woman”, for the album which is reminiscent of rockabilly songs of the fifties. Accompanying Conrad on the album are members of Jerry Lee Lewis' band, B.B. Cunningham and Robert Hall.
Now 14, Conrad has played many blues festivals including the Sarasota Blues Festival (which headlined Buddy Guy), Springing the Blues in Jacksonville, Great Atlantic Music Festival, Rhythm & Ribs (which headlined James Cotton), and others. Conrad expanded his touring schedule this year, including various venues around Florida in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, and looks forward to playing at new venues for his ever expanding audience.
Just this summer, Conrad was chosen as one of the most talented kids by Cartoon Network for their show, "Props". He was honored to perform with Robert Randolph and the Family Band (see photos) at the "Life is Good Festival" in Boston for the filming of the show.
Conrad's most recent album entitled, "Juke Joint 2007", is available online. He is currently working on an all original album that should be released soon.
