Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Eli "Paperboy" Reed is a Boston-based soul and R&B singer from Boston, United States, born in 1982. He is associated with soul, funk and rhythm and blues, and his work centres on horns, groove-led arrangements and high-energy vocals.

Early life and development

Reed begins performing in the Boston area and then moves at 18 to Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he plays in juke joints across the Delta. He later spends a year in Chicago as minister of music in a South Side church before returning to Boston and focusing on songwriting.

Recording career

His first full-length album, Roll with You, appears in 2008. It brings wider attention and leads to television work in the UK, festival appearances in Australia and extensive national and international touring. He later signs major-label deals and his music is placed in films, television programmes and commercials.

Two later albums, Come and Get It on Capitol and Nights Like This on Warner Brothers, generate more than $2.5 million in combined licensing. Reed continues to perform with his band internationally, and his group includes Ryan Spraker.

Musical style

Reed’s sound draws on Motown and Stax-style soul, with slow ballads and more urgent, groove-driven songs. His performances are marked by falsetto vocals and a strong emphasis on live energy and feeling.

Later work

After time away from the road, he returns to the studio and records My Way Home, which he presents as a back-to-basics album that reconnects with the character of his earlier work.