Interview with Eliza Neals

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Eliza Neals

Eliza Neals is a Detroit-born blues-rock force, and on her 13th studio album, Thunder in the House, she leans fully into the elements that have always made her sound hit different: grit, soul, spirituality, and the unmistakable heartbeat of the city that raised her.

Growing up on Acacia Street on the outskirts of Detroit, Neals absorbed a wide “musical gumbo” from the start—shaped by the revolutionary sounds of the so-called “Paris of the Midwest,” and grounded in her indigenous Armenian heritage. That mix of cultures, church-and-street reality, and Detroit’s hard-earned swagger became the foundation of her voice as both an artist and songwriter. Armed with a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Wayne State University and deeply influenced by her friendship with the late songwriting legend Barrett Strong (known for work with artists like Marvin Gaye and The Temptations), Neals developed the kind of musical discipline and emotional truth that can’t be faked.

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