“Her second tongue was English, but her first was patience,” sings Elliah Heifetz on his new single, “Living Proof”—a loving ode to his mother who, along with his father and sister, came to America in 1990 as political refugees from the Soviet Union. “Everything she did, she had to do.” This story of upbringing is typical for generations of immigrant children, but Heifetz’s tale carries a unique calling card; his unabashed love for American country and roots music. “Living Proof” embodies the hope and resilience of Heifetz’s mother with equal parts John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, and Don Williams, riding a quiet half-time groove accented by sweet pedal steel guitar and true-to-life lyrics. “She was fighting for a corner of a brand new nation, and I, I’m living proof.” The first release from Heifetz’s upcoming full-length album First Generation American, fans can hear “Living Proof” now and pre-order or pre-save the album at this link.
Set to be released on April 1st, First Generation American finds this son of eastern European immigrants telling his most personal truths and truly confronting his life-long identity crisis. In late 2020, Heifetz connected with GRAMMY-nominated producer and fellow first-generation American Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Deslondes.) Flying to Nashville to track thirteen songs with Tokic at his all-analog Bomb Shelter studio, Heifetz recorded with an all-star band of legendary musicians including Dennis Crouch (Time Jumpers), Jeff Taylor (Time Jumpers), Jimmy Lester (Los Straitjackets), Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs), and JJ Tourville (Deslondes.) Not long after, the record was mixed by Tokic and mastered by Americana veteran John Baldwin.
The record’s opening title track is a raucous, joyously tongue-in-cheek anthem for all children of immigrants, followed by the honeyed, heartfelt “Living Proof.” Other standouts include “Modern Man,” a rip-roaring blues rocker with a wink in its eye; “Anxiety,” a vulnerable conversation with mental illness; “Keep the Grass in the Ground,” a tonal nod to Heifetz’s late hero John Prine; and “Buzzin’,” the honky tonk shout-along he’s always dreamed of leading. Armed with an illegal smile borrowed from Prine, First Generation American blows open the door to the musical world inhabited by tour-de-forces like Tyler Childers, Waylon Payne, Joshua Ray Walker, and Margo Price.
Heifetz likes to say that on this record, he’s a “tourist through country music”—paying reverent homage to the genre’s traditions while upending every old-guard, exclusionary norm he can find. It’s a vital album for a hellishly turbulent time, a way to belly-laugh while we swallow the bitter reality of America's hateful roots and complex future. And it’s a perfect summary of something that’s taken Heifetz down a rough road to learn: the stranger it is to listeners that he plays country music, the more right it feels. In this nation of immigrants, this patchwork quilt of a million differences, strangeness is precisely what makes you belong.
