ELI PAPERBOY REED

ELI PAPERBOY REED
AUGUST 24 @ 7:00 PM
SHOW @ 7:00PM
Genre: Country

Eli “Paperboy” Reed is a survivor. He was one of the first of the new wave of singers and songwriters to embrace unabashedly soulful music and he has been tearing up stages all over the world with his heart- stopping falsetto screams for more than a decade with no plans to slow down. From humble musical beginnings growing up outside of Boston, at 18 Reed moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi and cut his teeth playing and singing in juke joints all over the Delta. From there he took the well-trod path to Chicago where he spent a year as minister of music the Southside church of Soul legend Mitty Collier.

Starting in 2013 Reed began teaching at an after-school music education based in Harlem called for Gospel for Teens during his breaks from touring. The program worked with at-risk youth from around the New York City area and Reed specifically began teaching these young men about Gospel Quartet music, its history and harmony. Out of those classes emerged a new project that Reed dubbed The Harlem Gospel Travelers. He produced, arranged and played guitar on their debut album which came out on the revered soul label Colemine records in 2019 to rave reviews. Now The Harlem Gospel Travelers are at work on their second full-length and have begun conquering festival stages as well.

Now approaching the 15-year mark in his career and finishing up his 8th album, Reed has improbably become an elder statesman of the genre, and he’s begun seeing new artists who are taking inspiration from his unique sound. A sound that, over everything else, prizes feeling, energy, and, yes, Soul.