Country musician Eli Lev has had a multi-tiered career that’s gone in a few directions, similar to the four-direction album he put out earlier with sounds that went east, west, south and north. Eli Lev is bringing it all together in October for shows in Arlington, Rockville and Gaithersburg as he visits his hometown of Silver Spring.Although he’s experienced the finger-pointing that goes on in this politically-charged area, especially this year, he’s past all that.
“I would like to think that my music is post-politics. While I feel it's important to stick up for what you believe in and to form our own ideas on the state of the world, I also feel like it's our patriotic duty to see humanity in people who don't agree with our opinions,” he said.
A few years ago, Lev worked on a series of songs for albums he pulled together for different parts of the country. There is “All Roads East 2017,” followed by “Way Out West 2018,” “Deep South 2019,” and “True North 2021.” They each have a different country sounding vibe to them but each is different. His musical influences are Tyler Childers, Lucy Dacus, Billy Strings, Mat Kearney, and local guitarist Yasmin Williams. Not real big names, but big sounds.
Early on, Lev got his teaching degree and landed a teaching position at a little middle school out in the heart of the Navajo Nation’s town of Shonto, Arizona. This influenced his attitudes towards Native Americans, which comes up in some of his music today. He started his musical career in his mid-30s and found himself on stage at 9:30 Club during the DC Music Rocks Festival in August 2019, putting out a special mix of heartfelt country and Americana.
“Growing up in the Washington DC area absolutely influenced my songwriting as I was exposed to grunge rock, hip hop, hardcore, oldies, and folk music,” he said. “I was very fortunate to have such an eclectic soundscape around me growing up, and you can definitely hear that in my music.”
These days, it’s important for musicians to have a sound, but also have a screen presence, and Lev looked to a different venue for his latest music video “Chasing Daylight.” He worked with an internet marketing company called “Zuke creative,” and came up with the idea to have fans submit 30-second videos of themselves singing along to the song, and then he edited it together to form the whole song. Clips came in from South Africa, France, Lebanon, Canada, St Louis, the beaches of Nags Head, N.C. and even Joe & Karen McGavin from Springfield, Virginia.
In 2022, he released a five-song collection called "Walk. Talk. Dance. Sing." and it has his experiences songwriting during the pandemic.
Upcoming Eli Lev Local Shows:
* Thursday, Oct 6 at Hank Dietle's Tavern
11010 Rockville Pike, Rockville
(240) 512-3077
* Friday, Oct 7, Westover Market
5863 Washington Blvd, Arlington
(703) 536-5040
* Sunday, Oct 9 Gaithersburg Oktoberfest
31 S Summit Ave, Gaithersburg