Culture Cabinet

I finally made it to the ground, finally made it to the sound of my own voice. 

These are the words that open Eleri Ward’s new single, “Moss.” While poetic, and only made all the more so by her signature airy voice that is showcased by this single, these words feel true to where Eleri currently finds herself within her artistic journey. 

Music has played an integral role in Eleri’s life from a young age. “My mom and I agree, it feels like I might have had a past life in me, because I asked her if I could play the violin and get into violin lessons when I was two years old,” she says in an interview with Culture Cabinet. “And when she was like, ‘You know, maybe once you start reading, like reading words. Then you can start violin lessons,’ I got so upset. I was like, ‘Well, I used to play,’ which is the creepiest weirdest thing for a little two year old to say about playing the violin,” she laughs. 

Eleri spent her childhood and teenage years learning various instruments, including the violin and piano, as well as gaining an interest in musical theatre, which eventually led her to study musical theatre and songwriting at Boston Conservatory. While she loved musical theater, she found herself having difficulty breaking within the stereotypical molds of musical theater styling. As she grew jaded by the process of getting up at 4 a.m. every morning for auditions and working day jobs, Eleri found herself in need of some change. 

That change just so happened to be an acoustic cover of Sondheim’s “Everyday a Little Death” from A Little Night Music, that Eleri recorded in 2019. While continuing the audition grind, Eleri began to produce more and more acoustic folk covers of Sondheim songs, with her cover of “Johanna (Reprise)” from Sweeney Todd eventually going viral. And therein became the perfect confluence of Eleri’s love of musical theater and unique artistic talent. 

“I never identified as an indie folk artist at all,” she says. “But, once I started making these Sondheim covers, it was like, ‘Oh, there’s this other style that I can do,’ and I never knew that that was in me, which was really exciting. That also taught me more about myself, and what little pieces and references and influences I can take from each of these things that I’ve explored in the past.” 

The success of Eleri’s first album, A Perfect Little Death, opened the door to more opportunities, including the chance to open for Josh Groban on his 2022 tour, and the opportunity to produce a second Sondheim cover album, Keep a Tender Distance.

While her gratitude for the success of the Sondheim covers seems all apparent, there’s a clear sense of excitement for the chance to produce more original music. 

“I have been putting out original music,” she explains, “I actually put out original music before I put out my first Sondheim album. And my first EP of originals was very bare bones. I didn’t do it for anyone other than myself. At that point I was really just doing it to have something out in the world, and something that I could call my own. But it wasn’t my primary focus. At that time, I was really in the in the trenches of going to auditions every single day and waking up at 4 a.m. to go to Pearl Studios and sing a 16-bar cut for someone. It felt like something that I just wanted to do for fun, and that didn’t need to have this crazy artist’s point of view.” 

In a lot of ways, Eleri Ward is a dream subject for a music journalist. She can break down a song in ways that the average person probably wouldn’t even think of, she can dissect an approach to lyricism, and she is clearly very passionate about what she does. Our conversation is one that reminds me of just what makes talking to musicians so exciting. But, an overarching theme tends to be an understanding of allowing the story to tell itself. 

“The Sondheim stuff really opened my eyes to what my artistic voice could sound like in a certain vein. And now writing a song that is far more acoustic than any of my other stuff has been, but is also maybe a little bit more poetic than some other things that I’ve written. That’s what honoring the story looks like in this moment. I really haven’t been able to stop thinking about this idea [of honoring the story]. And so it’s been making me look at my own music that I’m writing now, because I’m working on an album of original music, how the story of each song is telling me it wants to be told, and doing away with that part of your brain that’s like, ‘Oh, well, people know you for this, or people like this sound that you do.’ So it should fall into that box?”

“Or do you even know who you are? Are you playing with different arrangements and instrumentations? Do you know who you are as an artist? And it’s like, however other people want to define all that is not on me. And I’m coming to terms with that. And I think I’m choosing to be more excited about that idea, rather than confined by that idea, or like afraid of what other people will think of it. And it’s, it’s just making me really excited. I’m surprising myself more and more through what I make.” 

It seems right that someone like Eleri would be so willing to let the story tell itself. After all, her own story as an artist is not one of a traditional path. But, it’s one that led to the path that Eleri was meant to find, and one that is seeming to serve her well, and has made her poised to release a song as poetic and meditative as “Moss.” 

“I’m someone who very much knows what I’m saying when I’m writing a song. But if it speaks to someone else differently, than it’s correct. Your interpretation will always be right. Regardless of what that interpretation may be. I don’t believe that a story can just mean one thing. I reject literalism a lot, I think, for that reason, because I never want to force feed anyone an interpretation of what I’m saying, because if you took it a certain way, then it is that way for you. And so, I hope people can take away looking at my music in an interpretive way, and in a way of empowering and instilling confidence in people’s own voices and their own stories. Because I’m someone who has gone on such a journey to like end up where I am, and it still continues, the journey never ends. I hope that people can listen to my voice and listen to my music and say, ‘Oh, she is so her. That inspires me to be so me.’ And that, to me, is just really important and vital to what I want to put out into the world.” 

With such an uphill trajectory, it seems all but certain that Eleri Ward is a force to be reckoned with, that we can expect great things from in the future. But for now, I urge you to simply meet her in the moss, and experience the magic of her music for yourself. 

Photo credit: Bailie de Lacy

You can stream “Moss” here: