Elliah Heifetz is a first-generation American singer-songwriter born to political
refugees. After writing musicals and pop songs with premier Broadway
& Hollywood talent, Elliah turned to his first love—folk music—to
sing his own story. In 2018, he released his first 2 songs, and made it
onto TIDAL’s “Best in Rising Folk/Country 2018.” This year, a
critically-acclaimed string of singles lead up to the May release of his
debut EP, “New Folk Songs.”
It’s easy to think that moving folk music is a thing of a past and that anything coming out now is simply an affectation — an attempt to recapture a moment that’s gone. But when you listen to Elliah Heifetz, you’ll be quickly disabused of that notion. It’s cliche to say this, but Heifetz is the real deal. The EP spans a great deal of emotional breadth. “I’m Over Now” is a song to bring comfort to any listener — no matter what they’re experiencing. Heifetz’s meditations on happiness and peace expand to include not just the listener, but the whole world. On “American Goldfinch,” Heifetz brings an astounding warmth and sincerity to a song that could easily come across as smarmy. Yet Heifetz preserves the purity of the song’s intent, leaning on his lyrics’ observations of natural beauty to help the song — pun intended — fly.