A 'Paperboy' who delivers R&B
Eli Reed got his nickname from his grandfather's hat.
The hat that earned Eli "Paperboy" Reed his nickname has been retired.
"It's kind of falling apart," the 25-year-old soul/R&B dynamo said over the phone from Austin, Texas, as he was preparing to leave the SXSW festival. "It's on my wall. It belonged to my grandfather, so I don't want it to disintegrate."
Reed has, however, kept using the nickname: "It helps me stand out, if I need help doing that."
He doesn't, actually, if you've ever heard him sing. On Roll With You, Reed and his band, the True Loves, deliver a scorching, horn-powered blast of '60s-inspired Southern soul, as he emotes with the gritty fervor of Otis Redding or Bobby Bland.
Reed's back story sounds like the stuff of movies. Raised in Brookline, Mass., he was a "very depressed and anxious teenager," drawn to the unbridled emotionalism of his father's soul, blues, and gospel records. He busked in Harvard Square, and after high school he headed to Clarksdale, Miss., where he played music, hung out with drummer Sam Carr, and soaked up the deep-blues culture. (That's also where he picked up the nickname.)
Later, while at the University of Chicago, he became music minister at the congregation of a former one-hit soul singer, Mitty Collier. That might seem like a strange post for a Jewish kid from New England, but not for one who grew up loving gospel and lists titans such as Julius Cheeks and Ira Tucker among his influences.
After Chicago, Reed returned to the Boston area, put together the True Loves, self-released an album, and really started to make noise last year with Roll With You.
The album's first-rate songs, from the punchy rave-ups to the slow-burning ballads, all were written by Reed (as Eli Husock). Despite all the Stax-era echoes, nothing about the music feels secondhand.
"I have no interest in being a retro or a revival artist," Reed says. "This is the kind of music I like, and it sounds the way it does because that's who I am."