Posted on: September 11, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The Second Annual

BROOKLYN SOUL FESTIVAL

at the Bell House – 149 7th St., Brooklyn, NY

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8

8:00pm doors/DJs

8:30pm Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves

9:30pm Don Gardner

10:30pm Vernon Garrett

11:30pm Barbara Lynn

DJs until 4am

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9

11:00am-5:00pm Shakey’s Record Fair

8:00pm doors/DJs

8:30pm The Sweet Divines

9:30pm Renaldo Domino

10:30pm Harvey Scales

11:30pm Betty Harris

* * *

“It’s been a wild ride, that’s for sure,” says Eli “Paperboy” Reed, looking back at the incredible journey that took the soul belter from a Boston high school band room to a Mississippi Delta juke joint, from Sunday morning gigs behind the organ at a tiny South Side Chicago church to headlining the coolest clubs in New York City with his red-hot band, and now, signed to Capitol Records.

On Come and Get It, Reed proves to be the life of a soulful, sweaty party in which everyone eventually gets dragged onto the dance floor. As a performer, Reed approaches each song with nothing less than utter conviction. Admirers have likened him to such luminaries as Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett; the Boston Herald called him “Boston’s answer to Sam Cooke.” But he’s not merely trying to recreate a sound; Reed is channeling his influences and inspirations into making something all his own.

“For me,” says Reed, “it’s all about writing pop songs. Soul music was the greatest pop music of the 20th century and its influence is so far-reaching. When I pick up a guitar to write a song, the influence of the music I love invariably comes out. I can’t sing or write any other way than I do.”

Sept. 11 – Life Is Good Festival – Boston, MA

Sept. 25 – Loon Mountain – Lincoln, NH

Oct. 8-9 – Brooklyn Soul Festival – Brooklyn, NY

Oct. 29 – Voodoo Festival – New Orleans, LA

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