Elizabeth Thomasian Neals (born February 8, 1974), known professionally as Eliza Neals is an American

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and arranger. She has released ten albums since 1997. Neals counts

Barrett Strong Barrett Strong (born February 5, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter. Strong was the first artist to record a hit for Motown, although he is best known for his work as a songwriter, particularly in association with producer Norman Whitfi ...

and

Joe Louis Walker Joe Louis Walker, also known as JLW (born December 25, 1949) is an American musician, best known as an electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. His knowledge of blues history is revealed by his use of older material and playi ...

as her mentors and inspiration.

Early life and education

Neals was born on February 8, 1974, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and raised in

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its ...

. Neals began singing and performing with her two sisters, but as she reached adolescence was advised by her father that "you have to get a degree to live under this roof". She choose to study opera and enrolled at the

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music.

Career

Neals toured across Europe with the Wayne State University concert chorale, using her

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

voice. In order to sing in a way that was more appropriate for her chosen vocation, she eventually had to forget her training in opera because her true musical passions were blues and rock & roll. Back in Detroit, Neals began to perform in local clubs, where she honed her vocal styling and improved her piano playing attributes. In the mid-1990s, a chance encounter in a Detroit area health food store between Neals and customer

, led to Strong signing her to his own record, Blarritt Records. In 1997, her debut album, ''I Want More'', was issued with Neals billed simply as Eliza. A follow up album, ''I'm Waiting'', appeared two years later. The working relationship between Neals and Strong remains to this day. Neals was the co-songwriter and co-producer on ''Stronghold II'' (2008), Strong's most recent album. Neals self-released four albums over a ten year period, culminating in 2015's ''Breaking and Entering''. Her original compositions gave Neals a 2015

Detroit Music Award The Detroit Music Awards Foundation is a Michigan 501(c)(3) organization, whose mission is to recognize Detroit area musicians working on a national, regional, and local level. The Foundation supports and nurtures the musical community in Detroi ...

for 'Outstanding Blues/R&B Songwriter'. In 2017, her next offering, ''10,000 Feet Below'', saw all but one of the 11 tracks written, or co-written, by Neals. The exception was her rendition of

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

's number, "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues". Billy Davis and Paul Nelson were featured guitarists on the album, which was issued on E-H Records. Neals went on to win the 'Blues Artist of the Year' from the 'Detroit Black Music Awards' in 2018. ''Eliza Neals and the Narcotics (180 gram vinyl)'', credited to that 'band' was released in 2019. The same year witnessed the July 4 release of the EP, ''Sweet or Mean'', also on E-H Records.

Popa Chubby Theodore Joseph "Ted" Horowitz (born March 31, 1960 in The Bronx, New York City, United States), who plays under the stage name of Popa Chubby, is an American singer, composer, and guitarist. Life and career At age thirteen Horowitz began play ...

oversaw production of the collection, which included horn work by

Ian Hendrickson-Smith Ian Hendrickson-Smith is an American jazz saxophonist. He is best known for being a former member of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings from 2004 to 2010 and playing with The Roots on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. Early life Hendrickson-S ...

and

Michael Leonhart Michael Leonhart (born April 21, 1974) is an American jazz trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist. Solo career In 1992 Leonhart was honored with the first Grammy Award for outstanding high school musician in the US (he attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia ...

. Neals's next album was the reflective ''Black Crow Moan'' (2020). Neals noted it was "... more sentimental – a lot of stuff coming from way, way back. I think it’s more heartfelt. More like a confessional". It was recorded before the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

, and featured guest appearances from

and

Derek St. Holmes Derek St. Holmes (born February 24, 1953) is an American rock musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitar player for Ted Nugent's early solo career. After splitting from Nugent in 1978, St. Holmes worked with various artists, mo ...

. In 2021 Eliza Neals re-released ''Sugar Daddy'' written by ''Barrett Strong'', featuring King Solomon Hicks on guitar, to positive reviews and airplay/rotation on Sirius XM Bluessville. While ''Black Crow Moan'' was mainly ballad led to predict the times, ''Badder to the Bone'', was a return to her fuller blues rock sound. Neals wrote or co-wrote every song bar one, and she arranged and co-produced the collection in conjunction with Michael Puwal. The album had Neals providing both vocals and piano work, with

Lance Lopez Lance Lopez (born September 30, 1977) is an American blues rock and Texas blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Lopez has been influenced by Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jeff Beck has described Lopez as "a very exciting ...

guesting on Guitar

Peter Keys Peter Michaelsen Pisarczyk (born May 30, 1965), better known as Peter Keys, is an American keyboardist. He is best known for his work with George Clinton in various P-Funk lineups and as a member of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd since 2009. E ...

guesting on

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, plus Billy Davis playing guitar on one track, "Got A Gun", while Paul Randolph played bass guitar on two songs. The

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

song, "

Can't Find My Way Home "Can't Find My Way Home" is a song written by Steve Winwood that was first released by Blind Faith on their 1969 album ''Blind Faith''. ''Rolling Stone'', in a review of the album, noted that the song featured "Ginger Baker's highly innovative ...

", had a makeover by Neals. She performed at the 2017 and 2019

Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival is a music festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that started in 1972 from the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, which itself began in 1969. Although the festival has had a tumultuous history and suspended operations in 200 ...

. Neals has been the supporting act for concerts by Barrett Strong, Joe Louis Walker, Popa Chubby, Peter Keys, George Clinton,

Four Tops The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet from Detroit who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes. Founded as the ...

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ma ...

Mike Zito Mike Zito (born November 19, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer, and songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri, United States. He is a co-founder of Royal Southern Brotherhood that features Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Charlie Wooto ...

Tommy Castro Tommy Castro (born April 15, 1955, San Jose, California, United States) is an American blues, R&B, and rock guitarist and singer. He has been recording since the mid-1990s. His music has taken him from local stages to national and internation ...

Walter Trout Walter Trout (born March 6, 1951 in Ocean City, New Jersey, United States) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Biography Trout's career began on the Jersey coast scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He then decided to relo ...

Albert Castiglia Albert Castiglia (born August 12, 1969) is an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. Castiglia has variously worked alongside Junior Wells, Sandra Hall, Aron Burton, Pinetop Perkins, Melvin Taylor, Sugar Blue, Phil Guy, Ronnie Earl, B ...

Micki Free Micki Free (born May 20, 1955) is a guitarist and singer of Native American descent. He won a Grammy Award for his contribution to the ''Beverly Hills Cop'' (1984) movie soundtrack and has won two Native American Music Awards. He is the director ...

Victor Wainwright Victor Lawton Wainwright, Jr. (born February 4, 1981) is an American blues and boogie-woogie singer, songwriter, and pianist. Wainwright's musical style was described by the American Blues Scene magazine in 2013 as "honky-tonk and boogie, with ...

, and

Solomon Hicks "King" Solomon Hicks (born February 8, 1995) is an American guitarist, blues, jazz singer, and composer. His style of music ranges from jazz, blues, classical, gospel, R&B, funk, Afro-Cuban, and classic rock. Hicks has been a blues guitarist s ...

Discography

Albums:

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neals, Eliza 1974 births Living people American women singer-songwriters American blues singers Electric blues musicians Blues rock musicians Singer-songwriters from Michigan Singers from Detroit 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers