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.
Soon after returning to Boston, he was bit by the songwriting bug and released his first full length, “Roll with You” in 2008. Reed’s combination of powerful soulful vocals coupled with his strong pop sensibility as a songwriter made people all over the world stand up and take notice. Soon there were calls coming in from everywhere; television shows in the UK, festivals in Australia, and a jaw-dropping schedule of national and international tour dates.
Major record labels came calling, deals were signed and Reed’s star kept rising, now with the help of song placements in major movies, television shows and commercials. The albums “Come and Get it” (Capitol - 2010) and “Nights Like This” (Warner Brothers - 2014) went on to do more than $2.5 million in total licensing, while Reed and his crack band continued to wow audiences on five continents. In 2016, after some much-needed time off from the road, Reed returned to the studio to cut “My Way Home” (Yep Roc - 2016); an album that is at once back-to-basics and startlingly current.
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.
Parenthood gave Reed a newfound wisdom and self-reflection. His daughter Stella was born in 2016 and son Oscar in 2019. With that in mind he returned to the south to record his 7th full-length “99 Cent Dreams” at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording studio in Memphis, TN. This time around he was joined by Soul legends The Masqueraders on background vocals. The title track was given an unexpected boost with a feature by hip-hop pioneer Big Daddy Kane! No Depression wrote: Reed never disappoints and on 99 Cent Dreams he takes his musical game to a new level, elevating us with it.”
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.
