Eli 'Paperboy' Reed
+ Danny Toeman
Full band performance
Eli “Paperboy” Reed is a survivor. He was one of the first of the new wave of singers and songwriters to embrace unabashedly soulful music and he has been tearing up stages all over the world with his heart-stopping falsetto screams for more than a decade with no plans to slow down. From humble musical beginnings growing up outside of Boston, at 18 Reed moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi and cut his teeth playing and singing 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 the Southside church of Soul legend Mitty Collier.
Soon after returning to Boston, he was bit by the songwriting bug and released his first full length, “Roll with You” in 2008. Reed’s combination of powerful soulful vocals coupled with his strong pop sensibility as a songwriter made people all over the world stand up and take notice. Soon there were calls coming in from everywhere; television shows in the UK, festivals in Australia, and a jaw-dropping schedule of national and international tour dates.
Major record labels came calling, deals were signed and Reed’s star kept rising, now with the help of song placements in major movies, television shows and commercials. The albums “Come and Get it” (Capitol - 2010) and “Nights Like This” (Warner Brothers - 2014) went on to do more than $2.5 million in total licensing, while Reed and his crack band continued to wow audiences on five continents. In 2016, after some much-needed time off from the road, Reed returned to the studio to cut “My Way Home” (Yep Roc - 2016); an album that is at once back-to-basics and startlingly current.
Starting in 2013 Reed began teaching at an after-school music education based in Harlem called for Gospel for Teens during his breaks from touring. The program worked with at-risk youth from around the New York City area and Reed specifically began teaching these young men about Gospel Quartet music, its history and harmony. Out of those classes emerged a new project that Reed dubbed The Harlem Gospel Travelers. He produced, arranged and played guitar on their debut album which came out on the revered soul label Colemine records in 2019 to rave reviews. Now The Harlem Gospel Travelers are at work on their second full-length and have begun conquering festival stages as well.
Parenthood gave Reed a newfound wisdom and self-reflection. His daughter Stella was born in 2016 and son Oscar in 2019. With that in mind he returned to the south to record his 7th full-length “99 Cent Dreams” at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording studio in Memphis, TN. This time around he was joined by Soul legends The Masqueraders on background vocals. The title track was given an unexpected boost with a feature by hip-hop pioneer Big Daddy Kane! No Depression wrote: Reed never disappoints and on 99 Cent Dreams he takes his musical game to a new level, elevating us with it.”
Now approaching the 15-year mark in his career and finishing up his 8th album, Reed has improbably become an elder statesman of the genre, and he’s begun seeing new artists who are taking inspiration from his unique sound. A sound that, over everything else, prizes feeling, energy, and, yes, Soul.
Line Up
Eli 'Paperboy' Reed
From early on, soul music has been the great passion of Danny Toeman’s life. At the tender age of 9, while attending a star-studded revue, an awestruck Danny grabbed the outreached hand of Stax legend Eddie Floyd, who pulled him up onto the stage during the encore. It was from that moment that Danny knew he wanted to continue the legacy of the classic soul music he loved, soaking up as much of the music as he could buy, and attending shows of many of the greats, including James Brown, the Temptations, the Four Tops, and Earth Wind & Fire,
In the last few years, London based soul singer/producer Danny has worked nonstop to earn a reputation as one of the scenes most dynamic live performers.
He has gone from playing any dive bar or small club that would book him to prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, the o2 arena, the Roundhouse, Ronnie Scott’s, and the Birmingham Town Hall. For the last few years he has been a regular fixture on the bill of BluesFest, and been the support act for a diverse array of greats, including Grammy winning guitarist Robert Cray, Daptone original Charles Bradley, the Queen of Rare Grooves Betty Wright, and U.K. sensation Michael Kiwanuka.
On record, Danny has faired just as well; his last EP ‘The Way It Seems’ reached 23 on the U.Ks longest running soul chart, garnering plays on BBC and Magic radio stations.
His work has also been successfully sync’d across television and other media; the collaborative effort ‘Beast Mode’ found its way onto US television, featuring in shows such as ‘Saturday Night Live’ (NBC), tracks ‘Soul Candy’ and ‘Keep on Running’ became downloadable content on the ubiquitous video game Rock Band, while ‘When the Lights Go Down’ was added to the instore playlist to Abercrombie & Fitch shops worldwide.
At the present moment, Danny is putting the final touches to what promises to be a new artistic peak for him; a brand new album, recorded the ‘right way’ using vintage microphones and analogue tape, as well as some of the finest musicians and session players the city has to offer.
