NY Times: "Eli Paperboy Reed Lifts Young Voices in the Gospel Spirit"

"There was a moment in Eli Paperboy Reed's gospel quartet class recently, at the end of Blind Willie Johnson's plaintive "Let Your Light Shine on Me," when Asher Bethune, a reserved 19-year-old, hit a note so low, so unexpectedly, that the other students jumped and shouted. No one had heard Mr. Bethune sing like that before.

"Luke Waldron, 17, declared the presence of the supernatural."He's in this room!" he shouted.

"Mr. Reed, the teacher, beamed and shook his head. Quartet singing will do that to a person, he knew. It had done things to him."

That's from yesterday's New York Times, where a reporter visited the men's gospel music class Eli teaches weekly in Harlem. Read the rest of the story, and watch a video of Eli and his class in action, here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/nyregion/eli-paperboy-reed-lifts-young-voices-in-the-gospel-spirit.html

Eli's upcoming album 'My Way Home' is a rough and righteous departure heavily informed by the music he teaches in Harlem. Listen to a track NPR Music called "inspired, raw and powerful" here: https://youtu.be/jtz9Y_5aWy4

Eli is playing an LA CD release show June 9 at the Bootleg Theater, and an NYC release show later that month. More tour dates TBA.