Michael Sackler-Berner (born October 12, 1983), aka MSB, is an American songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, singer and actor.

Early life

Michael was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He began playing guitar and songwriting at the age of 11, playing in numerous bands throughout his teen years. He attended McGill University for Music Technology. MSB's first professional band was Hearts of Palm, based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec. After releasing a full-length album, the band had national television licenses on NBC and CBS, and two regional tours. Their final performance was at the international

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

festival in 2005.

Solo career

MSB performed solo concerts in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

, New York City from 2006 to 2009. His debut album, ''MSB'', was released in 2010, produced by

Bob Thiele Jr. Bob Thiele Jr. (born July 3, 1955) is an American composer, musician and music producer. He has worked with many musical artists and on several soundtracks for TV shows and films. He is the son of producer Bob Thiele and singer Jane Harvey. Car ...

, and featured contributions from longtime

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

bandmates

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

and

David Mansfield David Mansfield (born September 13, 1956) is an American musician and composer. Mansfield was raised in Leonia, New Jersey. His father, Newton Mansfield was a first violinist in the New York Philharmonic. David played guitar, pedal steel guita ...

. Songs from ''MSB'' went on to be licensed over 40 times on cable and network television programs and films including FX's ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American Action film, action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX (TV channel), FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008, to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-k ...

'', Netflix's Bloodline, ABC's The Lying Game, and NBC's ''Law and Order''. Sackler-Berner was then signed to Razor and Tie Music Publishing where he wrote for other artists including Enisa,

Ari Hest Ari Hest (born June 16, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter from the Bronx borough of New York. Early life and education Hest's father is a college music professor and his mother a cantor. His older brother, Danny, is Hest's former manager ...

and

Leo Sidran Leo Sidran is an American Latin Grammy-winning musician, music composer, composer, performer, and producer whose Credit (creative arts), credits include co-producing the Academy Award, Oscar-winning song "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" for the soundtra ...

. A record contract and release on CEN/Sony Music in 2018 followed. MSB is currently published by Duchamp/Kobalt and under contract with Wax Records/Universal Music Canada. Sackler-Berner performs regularly at Joe's Pub at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

in New York City, as well as other clubs around the Tri State Area. 2010 – "MSB" – produced by Bob Thiele Jr. 2011 – "Shimmer and Shine" – produced by

David Kahne David Kahne is an American record producer, musician, composer, and former record company executive. Professional career Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and soon became Director of A&R for America's first punk and ne ...

. 2015 – "Fragile Magic" – produced by

. 2015 – "Beginning, End, and In-Between" – produced by

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway", a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl", and " Whenever You're on My Mind". He is ...

and Stewart Lerman. 2017 – "Accounting for Taste" – produced by Leo Sidran. 2018 – "Short Stories" – produced by Joel Hamilton 2023 – "Borrowed Time" – produced by MSB and Nick Movshon

The Slim Kings

Sackler-Berner founded rock band The Slim Kings in 2013 with world famous drummer

Liberty DeVitto Liberatori "Liberty" DeVitto (born August 8, 1950) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his work as a drummer for singer-songwriter Billy Joel's recording and touring band. He has been a session drummer on recordings of other artists ...

. The band has released three albums, ''Fresh Socks'', ''Expensive Habits'', and ''The King's County Classic''. The Slim Kings have toured alongside

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

Los Lonely Boys Los Lonely Boys are an American musical group from San Angelo, Texas. They play a style of music they call "Texican Rock n' Roll", combining elements of rock and roll, Texas blues, brown-eyed soul, country music, country, and Tejano music. The ...

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are an American musical group from the Jersey Shore sound, Jersey Shore formerly led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen and The ...

Spin Doctors Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and N ...

, and other headliners. They have had music featured in over a dozen television programs including ABC's Alaska Diaries, Showtime's ''

Nurse Jackie ''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series that aired on Showtime from June 8, 2009, to June 28, 2015. Set in New York City, the series follows Jackie Peyton ( Edie Falco), a drug-addicted emergency department nurse ...

'', NBC's ''Chicago Fire'', and Lifetime's ''

Army Wives ''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The sh ...

''.

Family

Sackler-Berner is the son of

Elizabeth Sackler Elizabeth Ann Sackler (born February 19, 1948) is a public historian, arts activist, and the daughter of Arthur M. Sackler and descendant of the Sackler family - a family deeply intertwined with the opioid epidemic in the United States of Americ ...

and television and film producer Fred Berner. He is the grandson of Milton Berner and

Arthur M. Sackler Arthur Mitchell Sackler (August 22, 1913 – May 26, 1987) was an American psychiatrist and marketer of pharmaceuticals whose fortune originated in medical advertising, profits from drug sales, and trade publications. He was also an art collector ...

Acting

Sackler-Berner has had television roles on ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'' and '' Law and Order: Criminal Intent''. He also had small roles in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

feature film, ''

Straight Talk ''Straight Talk'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Barnet Kellman, and starring Dolly Parton, James Woods, Griffin Dunne, and Michael Madsen. The film follows a woman who leaves her small-town life to move to Chicago, where ...

'', and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

film, ''

A Dog Year ''A Dog Year'' is a 2009 American made-for-television comedy-drama film written and directed by first-time director George LaVoo and starring Jeff Bridges. It was originally broadcast on HBO on September 3, 2009. The film is based on the memoi ...

''.

References

External links

Artist websiteArtist website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sackler-Berner, Michael 1983 births Living people Musicians from New York City Jewish American male actors Jewish American musicians Sackler family