The Eli Lev Collective
By Kimberly Shires
The Eli Lev Collective is a group of some of the DMV’s most talented musicians who come together for various shows for a complete production of original work by Eli Lev. For the DC Music Rocks concert, the Collective presents vocals from Meaghan Leigh, who frequently performs and tours with Eli Lev as part of a folk duo; Jarreau Williams on vocals, Andrew Toy on drums, Julian Lofton on bass, and Tiffany Shanta on violin.
Eli Lev is an award-winning singer/songwriter from Silver Spring, MD. Eli’s work sits somewhere between folk, pop and country for a truly original manifestation of Eli’s spirit. Eli is currently working on his third EP as part of the Four Directions Project, a four album series representing the four cardinal directions, including “All Roads East”, “Way Out West” and the soon to come “Deep South”. Eli Lev has released the first single, “To the Stars”, from the anticipated next album. Check out the live video here.
On playing at the 9:30 Club, Eli says, “It means the world, playing on the same stage where I went to go see all my heroes growing up as a kid is hard to wrap my head around – but I’m so ready to rock that sound system.”
Kimberly Shires is a native of the DC Metropolitan area. Kimberly is a freelance writer, music degree holder, road bike warrior, songwriter, corporate ladder climber, and a Subaru driving nature enthusiast.
Sub-Radio
By Logan Deiner
The year is 2004. The United States was in the middle of a nail-biting election between incumbent George W. Bush and opponent John Kerry, we were about a year into the war in Iraq which had split the country, and we were still being rocked by the 9/11 attacks three years prior. In short, the world, specifically America, needed an excuse to be happy again. Then, out of nowhere, a savior came in the form of The Killers. With their debut album Mr. Brightside and Sam’s Town a few years later, The Killers made a generation of people feel glad to be born in the time that they were. They had catchy hooks, excellent instrumentation, a retro yet timeless feel and simple but powerful lyrics. The DMV based band Sub-Radio brings a similar feeling of happiness to their music and evokes the sounds of bands like The Killers. If this piques your interest then you are in luck, because they will be playing live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on August 17th.
A talented band requires talented band members, and Sub-Radio ticks all the boxes. Adam Bradley has a very powerful vocal quality about him, and evokes artists like Adam Levine from Maroon 5, and of course, Brandon Flowers from The Killers. Complementing Adam are Michael Pereira on drums, Barry Siford on bass, and three different guitarists, Matt Prodanovich, John Fengya, and Kyle Cochran. Matt, John and Kyle take on double duties in the band, with Matt as a secondary vocalist and John and Kyle playing keyboard. Overall, the band members work very well together and create a very tight, poppy sound that easily grab the listener’s attention.
As of now, Sub-Radio has released two EPs and a handful of singles. The two EPs, Same Train // Different Station and Dog Years, are both very well put together and an amazing look into what is to come from the band in the future. The production is very solid and well mixed, and the band really put their best foot forward with a high quality performance. The lyrics are very deep and well written, tackling pop standard subjects like love so poetically, they may as well have reinvented the topic. The instruments are outstanding as well, and do a great job of helping paint the scene that the lyrics depict.
To put it simply, Sub-Radio is truly excellent, the lyrics are fun and meaningful, the vocals and instruments work well together, and the music overall has a good vibe. If you want to have a nice, fun weekend, I highly recommend seeing the band live at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. If you want to support the band, you can check out their website, where you can buy merch, and join their official newsletter; listen to them on Spotify here, and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The band is sure to put on a spectacular performance. Get tickets here.
Check back for more bands tomorrow!
Logan Deiner is a writer and journalists who enjoys hanging out with friends and listening to music in his spare time. He enjoys most genres of music, and has a vinyl collection of over 500 records.
by Kimberly Shires Dave Nachmanoff is an internationally touring singer/songwriter and guitar virtuoso. Dave currently resides in Davis, California with his family, but planted his
“The Mirror” off of Milton J’s Forever Fallen is about the mundane routines we are subject to that slowly eat away at our positivity, drive,
by Logan Deiner Let me make one thing perfectly clear; I am a full on, unashamed, unabashed geek for just about anything retro. I have
Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
