Natural State, Eve of Eden’s forthcoming album, is a polished Americana-pop record that seems way beyond anything you’d expect from a band at the local level. In fact, leader Aliza Hava has been working on this record for a couple of years with three Grammy-winning producers (Toby Wright, Stephen George, Ron Zabrocki), a feat she managed after having released a solid solo record a decade ago, and getting to know folks in the industry ever since.
“I put the team together from relationships that I built over the years, people who’ve really enjoyed my voice, my songs, believing in what I have to offer,” Hava says.
The bulk of the record was recorded before she formed the band Eve of Eden, and the process began right after she moved to Santa Cruz (she’s originally from New York). During the process of working on this album, she decided that she didn’t want to put out another solo record.
“Being in a band is more fun than being a solo singer-songwriter,” Hava says. “I had been performing as myself for a long time. I just had this epiphany that that was only what I was doing because of circumstance, not necessarily because that’s what’s in my heart.”
The name Eve of Eden came to her while meditating. The people that she met for the group clicked perfectly, and now feel like family to her, she says. The group officially formed in July, and is preparing for the release of Natural State sometime in 2016.
“I wanted to approach this project in a way that the music would have the capacity to reach the widest possible audience, which I think is important in terms of really setting up a foundation for being able to tour and have a long career as a professional musician, which I think is every artist’s goal eventually, to just do your music and not have to have a fallback.”
INFO: 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 2. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994
