Award-winning singer-songwriter and global citizen Eli Lev’s empathic writing and infectious folk-based sensibility has been his universal passport into our collective hearts.
Over the last five years, the Maryland-based artist released his epic debut, Four Directions, which compiles four conceptual EPs (All Roads East 2017, Way Out West 2018, Deep South 2019, True North 2021) into one 20-song statement. The indigenous traditions he learned during his time as an eighth grade English teacher on the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona were his inspiration for the critically-acclaimed tune tome. Together, the series imaginatively and intrepidly connects spheres and generations within a body of work that is irresistibly uplifting, emotionally resonant, and down-to-earth authentic.
Eli grew up in the diverse suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland, where a blending of incongruous backgrounds made an indelible impact on his pan-culture perspective. Prior to music calling Eli, he studied in Bloomington, Indiana, taught in the US, and lived in Tel Aviv and Andorra, before returning to the US to get a Master’s Degree in English Education.
Now, Eli is setting out on new adventures. His latest 2022 release, Walk. Talk. Dance. Sing., is an inner travel monologue from the pandemic and beyond. It vibrantly blends Eli’s classic acoustic guitar and upfront vocal aesthetic with refreshingly diverse sounds, spanning pop, lo-fi rock, electronic, indie, folk, and Caribbean-kissed musicality. The refreshing five-song collection compiles his songwriting during the pandemic, capturing the highs, lows, and all the emotions in between during our global crisis. The new EP’s eclectic flair is also an homage to the life-changing power of classic mixtapes, and how a broad array of exposure to new sounds can send someone on a lifelong journey.