Ali Eskandarian’s transnational upbringing makes him a prescient voice for our era. The Iranian-American troubadour draws upon influences as discrete as American folk, rock and traditional Persian music to craft songs about love, travel, politics and loneliness. The results have earned him comparisons to greats like Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley.
Ali was born in Pensacola, FL, on September 11, 1978, to a father who was an officer in the Iranian Air Force. Growing up in Tehran, Iran during the Iranian Revolution, Ali found strength in music. “I was always around music,” he explains. “It’s hard to find an Iranian party without dancing and singing. The Islamic revolution has not been successful in trying to stop people from having a good time.” After the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, the family was granted political asylum in Germany. After two years, they relocated to Dallas, Texas, where Ali experienced an arts-filled adolescence. After attending college in Plano, Ali moved to New York in 2003 to pursue his dream. He said, “I eventually realized how much music meant to me and that I could be a musician.”
Buzz has built around Ali’s live performances, which include shows at the Living Room, the Rockwood Music Hall and a summer residency at Washington, D.C.’s the Red and the Black. Ali’s highly anticipated debut album, Nothing to Say, is slated for a March release on Wildflower Records. Produced by Rob Friedman, whose work was featured on Dan Zane’s Grammy-winning album Catch That Train!, Nothing to Say exhibits diverse sources of musical inspiration. Standout track “Memphis” is motivated by the Americana of Willie Nelson, telling the story of a wanderer who is persistently drawn back to this mystical American city. Meanwhile, “Eastern Fancy” reveals the Persian influence of singers like Farhad and Dariush, with Ali’s powerfully austere voice front and center against an acoustic guitar background. Ali’s intensely personal blend of East and West is an adventurous, politically compelling addition to the musical landscape of 2008.
MAY DATES FOR MY UK TOUR WITH
TERRY REID TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
I really enjoyed your performance at the Velveeta Room. Your stage presence is demanding, animated, alive. Add that with amazing music?! Damn. I loved it. I hope you make your way back to Texas soon, and if you do, hit me up!!
-Mica
ps. I posted some pictures of your performance if you want to check them out. They're in the SXSW album.
just stopping by to say hi! hope you are well, your music is very beautiful..you know. if you want check out my new myspace page. I think it looks great. -K
Great set last week at CMW. Good to see you at Holy Joe's and Free Times in the past year in Toronto. Hope to see you at another venue up here some time soon.
"Sounds like wind blowing in a wheatfield, train rolling down the line, rain coming down on a old tin shed, steel, wire and a rusty heart. Boots of leather and dust and ash. Mollasess and coal and stone. Wedding rings and buried bones of love broken and burnt. Tales and the footprints, ravenswings and souls are earnt"
You add grace to my space. Word to wise: somebody near you even looks like they might have this flu bug I just got over, go home, bathe in a tub of Lysol. Or JW Red if that's your pleasure . . . Peace.
hey my friend saw your profi7le and thin5ks you look hoLt! she is new to myspyace but wants to chat with you on msjn mesKsenger her name on there is emily23spa@hotmail.com
whats up? i found this site and thought i'd tell everyone, it shows you if anyone at school likes you. i dont know how it works but its really cool, it told me a couple different people who have crushes on me. you gotta try it!
Hi there Ali Eskandarian first of all we'd like to say thanks for being our myspace pal. We wanted to make sure you knew the reason incase we suddenly vanish off of your friends list. The movement we've started for indie artists has grown significantly and consumes all of our time these days. We seldom sign into our myspace account and this is making several people believe that we are ignoring them. We are not ignoring anyone, we wanted everyone to know that. What we're doing has become so busy we just don't have the time for myspace any longer, so in all honesty we are probably going to just close our myspace account.
Many people wanted to use us in the future so if you were one of those people make sure you bookmark the link below so that in the event that we do close our myspace account you won't lose contact with us. I wish you the best of luck in your music career. Thanks again for being our myspace pal.
