Sasha Dobson's 'Sunday night circus' at Pete's Candy Store

By Meredith Deliso

Every Sunday at Pete’s Candy Store, Sasha Dobson can be found using the Williamsburg venue as a testing bed for new material and play with her various projects. One week it’s the bossa-tinged folk/rock of her own band, the next it’s her duo band The Reflections, and another might find her going it solo.

“[The owner’s] been kind enough to let me run an 8:30 Sunday night circus,” says Dobson. “For me, artistically, it’s amazing. I get to totally shape each project and fine tune them. It’s so productive for us in that way.”

Originally from Santa Cruz, Calif,. Dobson’s music career was almost pre-destined – her father was the jazz pianist Smith Dobson, her mother jazz vocalist Gail Dobson. The singer eventually made her way over to the East Coast, living for a time in Bedford-Stuyvesant, though now resides in Manhattan near midtown.

“I would love to be a Brooklynite, if I can afford it,” says Dobson, noting the irony. “The atmosphere [in Manhattan] is a total drag. I would much rather live in Brooklyn. I keep trying to migrate back.”

Since Dobson tends to be out on the road a lot anyway, her apartment is much a home base. But she can be found every Sunday in Brooklyn with her guitar, working out new material with her band of merry men – Steve Elliot on electric guitar, Rob Jost on bass, and Dan Rieser on drums.

Looking to follow up to her 2006 debut release, “Modern Romance,” a fusion of jazz, pop and bossa nova, Dobson and her crew have been working out new material and establishing something that is distinctly her own, led by the musician’s expressive, world-weary voice. Though they are in no rush to put anything out, because “once you put a record out it’s done, you can’t do it again,” says Dobson. “The band’s just getting better and will get better if we wait.”

In addition to her main project, Dobson has also been prone to perform as The Reflections, with her on drums and vocals and Richard Julien on bass, and with the country swing female trio Puss ‘n Boots (one-third of which is Dobson’s long-time friend Norah Jones, as well as bassist Catherine Popper, a former member of Ryan Adams’ band The Cardinals).

“It’s basically three girls just trying to have some fun, drink some beer,” says Dobson. “We all have a good time.”

When not at Pete’s on Sundays, Dobson can also be found around town playing gigs with other groups, but right her heart is in her own music.

“[Pete’s] has been this way for me to really shape these three projects, especially my thing,” says the musician. “It’s been a place to try out new tunes and become a band. That’s what this gig has done for us.”

Catch Sasha Dobson every Sunday at Pete’s Candy Store (709 Lorimer St.) at 8:30 p.m. For more information, call 718-302-3770.