More About Eliza Neals
“Barrett Strong is one of my mentors after graduating from Wayne State University in Detroit. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice for Opera and a minor in piano. I traveled to Europe and felt the opera lifestyle was not suited for me at the time. I returned to Detroit and performed five nights a week in smokey clubs and everywhere else. I met Barrett and worked in his studio as tons of artists came in and out everyday. He showed me (almost) every trick in the book and you can hear some of them on my records. I love classic, late 60’s rock and 70’s soul; Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, and Aretha Franklin. My sisters and I would play their records and the piano as kids. I would take their music and play it my way, and make it my own. I still love all the greats, Doobie Brothers, Elton John, Rolling Stones, Carole King, James Taylor, Albert Collins, Blind Faith, Neil Young, Koko Taylor, B.B. King and so many more.
I learned the blues and started making these songs, mashed together with rock, and Southern rock. That’s when it really stoked me. I mean, Jackson Brown; the way he would play the piano was just so soulful, yet, so bluesy. All those people really got into my bloodstream. Of course there was Led Zeppelin too, and as far as female singers, Janis Joplin was way up there for me. I love Bonnie Raitt, and I listen to her constantly. I love funk, and Motown…” – American Blues Scene 2015 Interview