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| Eli ’Paperboy’ Reed: 'Roll With You' 24 year old Eli 'Paperboy' Reed, hailed as a "gifted young singer, guitarist, harp-blower" and "wise beyond his years", (Boston Phoenix) is set to release his sophomore album, 'Roll With You', on Q Division Records on March 4th. Deciding early in life to pursue and explore the roots of classic soul and blues, Reed fully immersed himself in the experience. · Growing up in a musical family in Boston collecting soul and blues records Reed, a self taught guitarist, begins busking in Harvard Square as a young teenager. · Through a soul/blues message board he makes connections in Clarksdale, MS, the proverbial cradle of the blues, and secures a job offer at a local radio station. · Shortly after his arrival, he discovers that the job has fallen through. He is 18 years old, living alone and jobless in a small Mississippi town. He quickly falls in with the musical community in Clarksdale and the legendary blues drummer Sam Carr takes him under his wing. They jam and listen to records at his house every Sunday afternoon. "He would play me stuff and sit me down and be like, 'This is how you ought to do it, ' Reed says, "I'm forever grateful to Sam Carr." · Eli spends the majority of the next year playing the juke joints and road houses of northern Mississippi. · At the behest of his parents, Eli attends the University of Chicago where he discovers that one of his idols, former Chess recording artist Mitty Collier, works at U of Chi. Eli convinces her to come to his dormitory, where he auditions for her on the piano in the lobby. She offers him the position of "Minister of Music" at her church. · Eli performs regularly at the church until his eventual move back to Massachusetts to lead his own band. Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves will return to NYC for additional shows in the coming weeks in advance of his new album. Stay tuned for more announcements. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |