David Dentinger is an American musician and writer known for his expressive and versatile baritone voice as well as his evocative and innovative lyrics. Dentinger’s music has been described as folk, Americana, pop-folk, and even acoustic new wave. It is characterized by emotional intensity, a wide range of influences and lyrical preoccupations such as the power of loneliness, love, drugs and alcohol, isolation, class, and gender and sexuality—and, especially, the small personal redemptions and connections that bring all of us a tattered but unmistakable sense of joy. 

He was born in Omaha and raised in several towns throughout the Midwest. He lived in NYC and spent several years in France. As such, Dentinger’s work often explores the effects that traveling and place have on our identity. His work draws on pop, punk, jazz, blues and folk certainly. His melodies are at once both catchy and surprising; his innovative lyrics can be devastatingly vulnerable, poetic, frank and funny. His music captivates and disrupts our expectations. He gives voice to people who have not typically had a voice in pop music, those who suffer from addiction, those who through choice or circumstances might not be afforded the advantages and privileges of mainstream society. He is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, and he works hard to give back to his community. 

Artists who serve as an inspiration are Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Phoebe Bridgers, Ani DiFranco, Paul Simon, Sam Cooke, Dave Van Ronk, Billie Holiday, Joe Strummer, Tom Waits, and Dan Reeder among others. 

David had said, “I love the dream-state of songs. I love having a song in my lungs. I want to write, sing, play and share my music—that’s what burns in my heart.”

“As a kid I lay on the floor and rocked, listening to music, singing along. When I was ten, I started playing a neighbor’s dilapidated piano. My first guitar was from a kit, made out of reinforced corrugated cardboard. I played it every day. Right now if all I had was a rubber band, I’d twang that thing and write songs about playing rubber bands.”