Even the most popular artists and entertainers started somewhere, back when they were an unknown entity. But in the intimate Jewish music world, not everyone gets discovered by some big agent. It could be a request from a friend, a chance meeting at a wedding, or an audition in front of a shul committee.
Who discovered you?
Thanks for Getting Me Started
TALENT SCOUT: His voice had a smile that made you feel he was your friend
Artist: ELI MARCUS
First Gig: A Crown Heights wedding
Date: 2008
Hired by: Musician and performer CHONY MILECKI
HOW IT HAPPENED:
I had taken the mic during the dancing at a Friedman cousin’s wedding in Crown Heights on a Thursday night right before Shavuos, when a local musician, Chony Milecki, came in. Chony told me that he wasn’t working that night, and as there was a Friedman family wedding and he knew that someone in the family would be singing, he came in to scout out some new talent. I was a real amateur then, holding the mic for fun, but he walked over to me in the middle of the dancing and asked for my number, saying that he’d call me the next day. That Friday, he called.
“I have a job for you. How much do you want?”
HOW IT WENT DOWN:
I was so nervous. I hadn’t really sung in public before, and I didn’t have vocal training, so I was worried my voice would tire or become hoarse in the middle of the wedding.
WHAT WE WERE SINGING:
“Ben Bag Bag” and a lot of other Shwekey stuff.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
We worked together at weddings for around seven years, and I have a huge debt of gratitude to Chony. We did a lot of Chabad weddings in Crown Heights, and also traveled out of town to do shluchim weddings. Slowly I’d get called here and there. I remember after about a year, my cousin Benny Friedman called me and asked me to come to Terrace on the Park to add harmony to a chuppah where he’d be singing. Once my album came out, things took off and changed. These days I’m rarely in Crown Heights, for better or for worse. To be honest, I miss the uniqueness of a Chabad wedding and the chance to sing the Chabad niggunim.
THEN AND NOW:
In-ear monitors were not a thing back then. Neither was it a given that the musicians and singers were on a stage. If there was a stage back then, it was a really special event.
Chony Milecki Remembers
I was at a wedding of one of Eli’s cousins, when someone shoved him onto the stage and pushed a mic into his hand during the dancing. Eli sang a song or two, and within 30 seconds I knew this wasn’t just “a kid who sings.” He was a singer. I went straight over, got his number, and later called him for a wedding. He was extremely reluctant — I don’t think he imagined himself being a singer — but luckily for all of us, he was also young and didn’t know how to say no.
Eli was very different. He didn’t sound or act at all like your typical full-throated, powerhouse wedding singer. Instead, he had a special chein in his voice, a natural smile that made you feel like he’s your friend, and an instinctive and fun way of moving with the music.
For nearly a decade, Eli sang almost exclusively with me, and he was the only one I’d recommend. We probably crisscrossed over 30 states together performing. We could pick up on each other’s cues without even making eye contact. It felt almost telepathic, like a unified performance. Today, Eli works far and wide, but whenever we do get to share a stage, it feels like a reunion of that original magic.
