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Leah Epstein - News & Reviews

Press Release - 1/2006

Woman's CDs Groove and Give Hope

Zionist Music with American Roots

Singer/Songwriter Leah Epstein recently released her first two CDs. They both feature songs about the land of Israel (Kinneret, Mt. Hermon, Shomron) and songs about the impressions of a Jew "returning" to Zion (New Faces, Old Souls, Shabbat in Jerusalem, Shield of Abraham). Epstein learned in a Torah study program in Jerusalem prior to making aliya from Chicago in 1981. She had already completed college and graduate school with degrees in literature and adult education. She met her husband, a Canadian, while learning Hebrew in a kibbutz ulpan. They moved to Keshet, a rural community in the Golan Heights, where they have raised seven children and where Epstein has been writing and composing her songs.

Idealistic youth protecting the land is the theme of Child of the Heights, a song inspired by her eldest son who was killed in a car accident in 2000. The personal and the universal are blended in a unique way in her songs which are both contemporary and timeless. The CD with a majority of English songs is named for the song New Faces, Old Souls. Her other CD has mostly Hebrew songs (English translations are provided) and is named for a song about Gush Katif called Nof Mushlam/A Perfect View. Moses and King David are remembered in two inspiring songs. The song For Jonathan (Pollard) has a strong message for Jews in the diaspora.

In We'll Talk Again Soon, a conversation with her mother in America, Epstein captures what is uplifting and hopeful about life in Israel despite its trials. The Hebrew song Sippur Mukar (A Familiar Story) appears on both CDs and gives a poignant portrait of Jewish motherhood. The style of Epstein's music is folk and country with a pinch of rock and the arrangements are inventive and varied. Second vocals are provided by singer Talia Weidmann from Bat Ayin and originally from LA. Shachar Nadav is a virtuoso on second guitar (acoustic and bass). The CDs are available at Moria Books and Music in the Old City of Jerusalem and through cdbaby.com. The artist performs for women in Israel and abroad. Whenever Epstein sings, she also leads a discussion about issues raised in the songs.

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