You're In The Palm Of My Hand by Doug Westberg

About the artist

Doug Westberg has been playing piano for 50 years and entertaining audiences for 40, having been an entertainer, church music director, classical organist, theater music director, children’s music enrichment leader, and composer of jazz-pop songs, choral music, and concert pieces which have received numerous performances and commissions throughout the Portland area. His current musical offering--based around the solo piano (or keyboard)--is an eclectic stew that includes liberal doses of ragtime and neo-ragtime (Randy Newman, the Beatles, Scott Joplin), keyboard rock and pop classics (Billy Joel, Steely Dan, Elton John), Tin Pan Alley and the Great American Songbook, highlighted by his body of brilliant and witty original songs. Featuring wickedly funny satire and virtuosic musicianship in a range of styles as versatile as his cover repertoire, Doug’s original songs draw from ragtime, blues, boogie rock, piano jazz, and modern jazz-pop as it suits his purpose. Wildly inventive, brilliantly crafted, and scathingly funny, his lyrics skewer politicians and celebrities, the perils of modern technology, and the vanity and vainglory of American popular culture in all its manifestations.

Westberg has recorded 2 full-length CDs: Phrenology (2003) (soon to be re-released as Behind By A Move) and his new album Waiting For The Bars To Rust (2010).

Doug Westberg has been an active part of the Portland/Vancouver music scene for over 30 years. His projects have ranged from theatrical productions like the original cabaret musical comedy The Almost Has-Been And The Nearly Never-Was (with Carol Holden) to classical organ concerts. In 2004, he shared Songwriter Of The Year honors in the Portland Songwriters Association Showcase Series, and his song “You’re All The Woman I Need,” won Best Country Song in the PSA International Song Contest. Every Friday and Saturday night from 7:00-11:00, he can be found playing, singing, and taking requests at Aaron’s Wine Cellar and Piano Bar in Portland, Oregon, 322 SE 82nd Ave. Saturday nights, Westberg is joined by son Nevada Westberg on drums. His versatility and style defy comparisons; “The best compliment I ever got,” says Westberg, “was from a guy who told me I reminded him of a combination of Randy Newman and Garrison Keillor.”

Westberg holds 2 music degrees from Marylhurst University. As a composer, his commissions have included a piece for the dedication recital series for the 43-rank Clark-MacDonald Pipe Organ at Marylhurst as well as several churches. He has played and concertized at Marylhurst University, Evergreen State College, Pomona College, Phillips Academy Andover, L’Arche Nehalem Spring Social, The Old Church, Vancouver Wine and Cheese Festival, Elevated Coffee, Ross Island Grocery, Alpenrose Dairy, dozens of churches, hundreds of weddings, farmers markets, art walks, street fairs, fundraisers, cocktail parties, corporate events, etc.