Eli Dean

It is crazy just how much a life can change in a year, ask Elias Dean how much his has changed and he will need a moment to gather all the facts together before being able to respoond. Elias is the only child of Linda and Jack Dean a loving couple who spent the first six years of their marriage trying to have a kid. Linda was told three months into her marriage that she may never be able to concieve a child but this did not discourage her, it did not stop her, she was never a fan of being told what to do even if it was by a medical professional. Jack offered to adopt, promising her that a child would not need to be made up of their genes for it to be their child, but she refused. Linda fell for Jack because of his voice, the two met in college, he was the guitarist and lead singer of a folk band that was very popular on campus and she was a groupie (the only groupie). Years after they fell in love she promised him that someday they would have a child and it would have his voice and take over the music world. Jack laughed off her claims but later found out just how important this was to her, since he did love her so much he agreed that they would continue trying until they would concieve a child who could have his voice. Finally Elias was born on April 8th 1994 and from that moment on, his future was sealed.

While it may have seemed to those who do not know the family that Linda was pushing singing onto her son from a very early age, it was really not the case at all. It was the urging of his mother to find his voice, but something he grew up loving to do. Even before he could talk, Elias loved music. His father would always put on music while eating dinner, his mother while doing the laundry or the dishes, every car ride of course, involved music, he could not sleep without his father singing to him or his mother humming a song as she rocked him in her arms. Whenever the tv was on there was music either the credits of the show or movie, the background of a scene, before he could even talk Elias learned that music is everywhere you turn and he loved it. By the age of four he knew the words to every Beatles song, by the age of six he picked up his first guitar and started to learn how to play the beatles, by nine he was learning the piano and by ten he self taught himself the drums. He has always been eger to learn more about music, and the beauty of growing up in a town like Burlington is that there is all kinds of art around every corner, he was always surrounded by art and beauty.

Elias stopped taking guitar and piano lessons at thirteen, saying that he had learned all there was to learn and he was ready to create his own music. He enjoyed playing other musicians songs when he was taking his lessons, but he felt like at that point in his life he was stealing the art of others and was not at all satisfied with that. He was ready to create his own music and while he had not yet lived a life worthy of lyrics, at least he could write the music and in time he knew that the lyrics would come to him, once he lived his life a little bit more. By the age of fifteen he had already written eighteen songs and two actually had lyrics. He tried to start a band with a couple of classmates but they only played for fun, none of them were at all serious on the level that Elias was and he knew he could not continue to play with them, he needed to be around people who were just as serious as he was. This was the moment when he realized he may never be able to find someone with the same state of mind, so he decided to remain solo.

By eighteen he had graduated from high school with decent grades and was accepted into college, but not at all prepared to begin that part of his life. As a graduation present his father took him to New York where he secretly booked him a spot on an open mic night. At this time he did have six songs with lyrics and three that he was willing to play in public. Before this night he had only ever played these songs for his parents so he knew it was time to play for a crowd that did not know him in any way and was not at all biased. While he was extremely nervous, the second he stepped foot on that stage with his guitar strapped around him, he knew that he could do this, he had nothing to be afraid of. He only had enough time to play two songs, the first song he played was one he had written just two days before and only played all the way through once, the song Pomegrante Sky ended with a rousing roud of applause from the audience, a room full of strangers. Never in his life had he felt a high so intense and he knew that this was a feeling he could never have enough of. He told his father that night that he was not ready for college, he was ready to start a life for himself as a real musician.

His father could not have been more proud of his son than he was in that very moment. They called his mother that night and broke the news to her, she too was happy for her son, happy that he found something he loved and was willing to do anything to reach. They extended the trip to New York in an attempt at figuring out his next step. His father tracked down a fellow classmate, a man he knew worked for a small record label in the city. The three met up one afternoon and put together a quick demo tape for Elias in the sound booth at the studio. While his studio was not looking for any new talent, he did say he had several connections and he sent the tape out to all of them, hoping for a small bite. While the tapes were circulating, father and son booked several other gigs, some more open mic nights, a few dozen small coffee shops, a few parties. The boys stayed with Elias's uncle and aunt who too helped in the search. What started as a weekend trip to New York stretched into a year long attempt at breaking into the music scene, Elias was not left alone in this venture, his parents made many sacrifices to help their son reach his goal, wanting him to be successful and happy.

When the darkness came, when a year long attempt became a year and a half, the Dean family was just about to give up but as it is known to happen, by the age of nineteen something incredible happened. Elias was discovered at a coffee shop by a represntive of Warner Music Groups who had stopped in to get a cup of coffee. He ended up staying for the whole set and approached Eli after, handed him his card and told him he had a voice unlike any he had heard in a long time and was interested in hearing more and potentially signing him. This will forever be marked as the day his entire life changed and the best day of his life. Now at twenty years old Eli just released his very first full length album in January, after a six month long tour where he gained quiet a large gathering of fans. He is currently gearing up to start his very first full US tour in the summer of 2015. Who would have thought a boy from Vermont would find fame and success before the age of twenty-one? He never would have.