Eli Paperboy Reed has released the single Getting There today, the title track from his forthcoming album….you guessed it… Getting There, which is due out on September 11 via Yep Roc Records. Produced by legendary songwriter, producer, and iconoclast Swamp Dogg, the album describes itself as “a rich and deeply personal exploration of enduring love, commitment, and the long road of life shared with others.”
“There’s plenty of music out there about falling in love,” says Reed. “I wanted to write about staying in love. I wanted to get to the heart of what it takes to go the distance, of what it means for two people to walk side by side, through good times and bad, and still choose each other every single day. We’re always ‘getting there,’ right? That’s what life is, especially when you realize that even when you’ve got a family and kids or whatever the ‘goal’ was that the race isn’t run and that it won’t ever be.”
Produced by the aforementioned Swamp Dogg, the album was recorded largely live with Reed’s band over ten days at Restoration Sound in Brooklyn. “I knew Swamp Dogg was the first person I wanted to make this record with,” says Reed. “If anybody knows how to make grown folks music—how to weave all these genres together, how to be serious but also tongue in cheek at the same time—it’s Swamp Dogg. This is grown folks music, I’m not 25 anymore, and I don’t want to make records that sound like I am. I want to make music that’s reflective not just of where I’ve been, but where I’m at right now.”
A singular figure in Americana music for more than six decades, Swamp Dogg has built a career defined by fearless creativity, genre-defying records, and groundbreaking work as both an artist and producer. His influence stretches across soul, country, R&B, and rock, making him a strong collaborator for Reed, and this is his first production work beyond his own material for over 30 years
You can pre-order the album here.
