Abby Dobson

Abby Dobson draws from jazz, reggae, soul, country, gospel, classical, folk and blues on her debut Sleeping Beauty: You Are the One You Have Been Waiting On (2010). She whittled down two CDs worth of material to the 11 songs and two interludes that best told this story. To bring the album to life, she drew a connection between the fairytale Sleeping Beauty and Alice Walker’s We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness. The idea of a song cycle based on Sleeping Beauty had been marinating in Dobson’s mind since 2004 and was spawned by a fierce allegiance to independence that was instilled in her from a very young age. “As much as it is about not expecting someone else to make me who I’m supposed to be in my personal life,” she explains, “it’s also about not waiting on a record company or music producer to deem me worthy of making music I was ready to share.

Abby Dobson draws from jazz, reggae, soul, country, gospel, classical, folk and blues on her debut Sleeping Beauty: You Are the One You Have Been Waiting On (2010). She whittled down two CDs worth of material to the 11 songs and two interludes that best told this story. To bring the album to life, she drew a connection between the fairytale Sleeping Beauty and Alice Walker’s We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness. The idea of a song cycle based on Sleeping Beauty had been marinating in Dobson’s mind since 2004 and was spawned by a fierce allegiance to independence that was instilled in her from a very young age. “As much as it is about not expecting someone else to make me who I’m supposed to be in my personal life,” she explains, “it’s also about not waiting on a record company or music producer to deem me worthy of making music I was ready to share.” She performed at The Blue Note in November 2010 to formally introduce her debut recording on her LadyBraveBirdMusic company.

Abby Dobson was born in Kingston, Jamaica. Her early recollections of music are of country and reggae songs she sang from the radio as a child, and her aunt shushing the family at the dinner table to listen When Dobson was 7, the family moved to Flatbush, Brooklyn in New York where she was expected to excel in her studies but also encouraged to develop her creative voice. She sang leads in the church choir at 9 years old, and studied classical voice and (briefly) piano in junior high. She found herself giving recitals of arias and Great American Songbook standards at her high school music teacher’s private gatherings, and continued her singing studies through college and beyond.

She was drawn to powerful vocalists such as Sarah Vaughan, Whitney Houston, Anita Baker, and Donny Hathaway, the introspective acoustic leaning writings of Tracy Chapman and Dolly Parton, and the writings of Bob Marley and Sweet Honey in The Rock. On the literary shelf sat her primary muses Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.

Dobson graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts having majored in history and political science with intentions to go into law or public policy. “I always knew I wanted to sing,” Abby confesses, “but was afraid of failing and being unable to sustain myself. When you come to America from an immigrant family, you are expected to succeed in a profession. So after college, I continued on in law school to become an attorney…but I never stopped singing.” She sang cover songs at an endless string of “open mic” nights and began writing songs when it was suggested that was the better way to land a record deal. After performing with a band at the Nuyorican Poets Café, things accelerated swiftly. As evidence of her artistry spread, she performed at such New York venues as S.O.B's, The Knitting Factory, The Cutting Room, Joe's Pub, and the Blue Note.

She was featured three times as a singer/songwriter at the New York Songwriter's Circle and was a finalist in the R&B category of the John Lennon Song Writing Competition for her song "Deeply," which has been featured on television shows The Shield, Jack & Jill, and Any Day Now. She won a BMI Atlanta Urban Music Showcase, was pegged by GIANT magazine in its September 2009 issue as an “Artist to Watch,” and lent backing vocals to artists ranging from John Legend to Talib Kweli. Accompanied by her band, Dobson has opened for Rahsaan Patterson, Ledisi, Dwele, Chrisette Michele, Floetry, Kindred, Leela James and Robin Thicke. She also performs with Burnt Sugar: The Arkestra Chamber, a 20-plus member ensemble known for improvisatory orchestral performances that combine all manner of vocal, instrumental, and electronic music, led by founder and conductor Greg Tate.

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11/26/10: Abby Dobson

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in Brooklyn, the singer-songwriter derives her soulful sound from reggae, country, blues, gospel, pop, jazz, soft rock, and hip hop.

Abby Dobson

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in Brooklyn, the singer-songwriter derives her soulful sound from reggae, country, blues, gospel, pop, jazz, soft rock, and hip hop.

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