CRESWELL – So many tales to tell. That’s why Eli Lev is turning his life story into a musical pilgrimage.
“Present Journey” was just released on June 26, the first part of a trilogy that chronicles the life of a 42-year-old full-time indie-folk singer-songwriter who performs over 250 shows a year.
Lev will be sharing some of those stories as he passes through town next week. He’s playing five Oregon shows in five nights, starting Wednesday, July 24 at the Axe & Fiddle in Cottage Grove.
You can catch him anytime, though, on social media. In 2020, Lev created an international community of fans called the Levitators, who feverishly join in each week to be a part of his Folk Friday livestream production. Many of the Levitators refer to Lev as the Global Ambassador of Good Vibes.
“As an independent artist, I need to have a lot of friends and families – along with their friends and families – to support me,” Lev said. “The Folk Friday show has been great. We’ve had people from Brazil, England, Russia, South Africa, Poland, Iceland, Canada, Mexico. … We have over 5,000 members now. Knowing that my music is reaching that many cultures and is being appreciated feels pretty cool.”
His three-part autobiographical series of EPs is called “Three Worlds.”
“‘Present Journey’ is a snapshot into my life, sort of an introspection,” Lev explained. “‘Past Lives’ looks at my ancestry and history, and ‘Future Myths’ – that’s stories they may be telling about me as we peek into the future.”
Lev’s imaginative nature was at its best as it connected spheres and generations during the making of the “Four Directions” project, largely inspired by the indigenous traditions he picked up while teaching eighth-grade English on the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona.
“The spheres represent my connections,” Lev said. “All roads East – I’m from (Silver Spring) Maryland. For the South, my Mom is from Mississippi. The West – I taught in Arizona. And the North, my Dad is from Chicago.
“My East songs are from my beginning, more of an electric sound. The West is more acoustic and electronic, and the North is reflective; each song is reflective of my growth as a musician.”
During his three-year stint as an English teacher in Arizona, Lev wrote a song called “Long Road Back To Shonto” that has always held special meaning to him.
“It’s a song about survival,” he said. “It’s also about beauty and building community, and how building those things started there.”
Lev’s music is beautiful. The way he networks and builds community is something special.
