top of page

Eli "Paperboy" Reed


NewMusicForOldFolks says …

Eli "Paperboy" Reed has been making sour-inspired music for more than a decade, long before the current Soul revival started. After growing up in Boston, the singer moved to Clarksdale, Miss., and immersed himself in Blues-inspired Soul and R&B. It makes for a great mix of influences. The 2010 release Come and Get It is a good place to start for the Paperboy newcomer, but you can't go wrong with anything in his catalog. If you miss Wilson Pickett or Al Green, this guy is for you.

Artist's Info

See him live: Tour dates

Record company: Warner Brothers

Genre: Soul, R&B

Bio (From the artist's website)

Eli “Paperboy” Reed is a survivor. He’s been making Soul-inspired music since before it was cool and tearing up stages all over the world with his heart-stopping falsetto screams for close to a decade. From humble beginnings outside of Boston, at 18 Reed moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi and cut his teeth playing 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 in a Southside church. (more)

Spotify sampler

Recordings

Most Recent

MY WAY HOME (2016): Eli Paperboy Reed has returned to the studio and crafted a new album that is at once back-to-basics and startlingly current. Album opener Hold Out kicks things off at full-volume, embodying the classic gospel ethos that everythings going to work out fine if you just keep the faith. Its a notion that turns up throughout the record, from the title track My Way Home to Tomorrow's Not Promised to Movin', and it reflects Reeds resilient spirit in the face of disappointment. Elsewhere on the album, he nods to the music's church roots, singing of fear of the devil on The Strangest Thing and damnation on Cut Ya Down (the only non-original on the record and a song he learned performing with Boston s Silver Leaf Gospel Singers, founded in 1945). What Have We Done is something of a secular hymn for the environment, and I'd Rather Be Alone serves as a meditation on following your own path to salvation.

Others

  • Sings "Walkin' and Talkin' for My Baby" and Other Smash Hits! (2005)

  • Roll with You (2008)

  • Come and Get It! (2010)

  • Nights Like This (2014)

Featured Posts
Recent Artist Profiles
bottom of page