Eliza
Gilkyson
Artist
Bio
The daughter of successful
songwriter Terry Gilkyson, Eliza is a third generation musician
who grew up in Los Angeles knowing that her life would revolve
around music. “I got into it for all the wrong reasons,
more as a survival tool than anything else, but it proved to
serve me more than I dared to imagine.” As a teenager,
she recorded demos for her dad, who wrote folk music hits “Greenfields,”
“Marianne,” and “Memories Are Made of This,”
among others. “He would use me in the studio because I
had a mature voice at an early age and would work for free,”
laughs Eliza. Soon after, she was writing and recording her
own material as well.
Dad's chorus: Tony, Eliza & Nancy Eliza
and the Ark Band 1971
At the end of the sixties, she moved to New Mexico with likeminded
souls, eventually raising a family, all the while developing
a loyal fan base in the Southwest and Texas. She cut numerous
records, including Pilgrims, released on Gold Castle Records
in 1987.After a period in Europe working with Swiss composer/harpist
Andreas Vollenweider, Eliza returned to the United States releasing
Through the Looking Glass in ’96 (Private Music), and
1997’s Redemption Road (Silverwave/ MTI), which she has
recently reissued. Eliza started her own label, Realiza Records
and put out Misfits in 1999, a collection of outtakes that received
favorable press as a sound that connected the worlds of folk
and modern storytelling.
In 2000, Eliza released her first album on the Red House Records
label, Hard Times in Babylon. The album was a critical success
followed quickly by more acclaim for her second recording with
them, Lost and Found. She has also been on several compilations
issued by Red House, including the Bob Dylan tribute album,
Nod to Bob, and a Greg Brown tribute called Going Driftless,
benefitting a breast cancer research group. Eliza has appeared
several times on NPR's All Things Considered, recently played
Austin City Limits, and in February of 2003 she was inducted
into the Austin Music Hall of Fame, alongside such luminaries
as Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Nancy Griffith, and others.
Eliza recorded Land of Milk and Honey in 2004, a recording decidedly
more sociopolitical in theme, that was nominated for a Grammy.
Her most recent CD is Paradise Hotel which has already made
DJ Top Ten lists all over the US and Europe.
3
generations on stage in 1979
Eliza is currently touring to promote Paradise Hotel. She will
continue to do so through 2006, with tours in the U.S., Canada,
and Europe (mostly the UK and Netherlands at this time). She
is still working on a songbook to come out soon as well as some
other side projects. Thanks to all the fans who make this possible
and provide the inspiration to "saddle up" and spin
the carousel one more time.
