Izzy Heltai
Northampton, MA | Established. Jan 01, 2016
Music
Press
Izzy Heltai croons with a self assured solitude on “The Stranger You’ve Become.” The track is the latest single from the Northhampton, MA based indie folk arist. Heltai has a voice that will remind you of The Tallest Man on Earth doing a cover of a Dawes song.
He strikes with accurate emotional imagery vocally while his guitar playing takes you to another headspace all together. He certainly knows his way around your heartstrings. The track is part of the forthcoming EP titled “Sweet Apathy.”
Keep an eye out for the release in mid-January 2019. Until them keep up with Izzy Heltai via the links below. - No Depression
Having lived down the street from MASS MoCA where the festival takes place the four years he attended MCLA as an Arts Management major, this festival has always felt like a homecoming for Heltai.
“What’s great about FreshGrass is that its always felt like the festival in my backyard,” Heltai explained. Even though he now lives roughly an hour away in Northampton, there is still something about North Adams and the FreshGrass festival in particular that holds a special place in his heart.
“The festival took me on before I was really ready to play that festival which, when organizations or places do that for someone who’s just starting to figure out what they are doing, is really cool and really nice,” Heltai explained.
“Now I feel really ready, prepared, and good enough to play there, but when I first started playing there I had no idea what I was doing.”
When Heltai climbed on stage in Courtyard C, there was an ease about him that showed he had really come into his own as a musician, a comfort in what he was doing. As he explained it in his interview, the more you practice, the better you get and spending the entire summer on tour it seemed, from the audience’s perspective, he was more than ready for his third year occupying the stage.
Over the years, Heltai has learned a lot on the fly, but one thing he’s figured out for sure is to not leave practicing until it’s too late, He says one always thinks they will have time to get another practice together during the festival weekend, but the likelihood of that actually happening is pretty low. With his accompanying band, which included stand-up bass player Dan Bisson and electric guitarist Micah Katz Zeiger, it was easy to tell they had run through these songs many times. It was practically second nature for them.
Read more at NYS Music... - NYS Music
. A voice that is equal parts gruff, sandpapered scratches, unfiltered and open just enough to let the story out and smooth, honeyed flavor that eases you in. There is a tenderness tempered by the genuine nature of his stories that is endearing and engaging. - Red line roots
“Anyone To Anybody” describes a painful recognition of unwanted responsibility and the desire to keep hanging on. Heltai’s vocals gently howl like harsh gusts of wind. “And it was long ago that I thought we’d grow old together,” he sings. “Well now I know, now I know.” Like a lot of folk music, the sound appears simple at first. But there are intricate layers in the mandolin, acoustic guitar, violin, a drum-kit, and three-part harmonies. The song is full and natural. With a few drinks one may find it hard to stop swaying with the beat, lost in the memories of times past. - Sound of Boston
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Wide Open Country Weekly Must-Listens: Paul Cauthen, Izzy Heltai and More
BY WIDE OPEN COUNTRY STAFF8 MONTHS
Jody Domingue
Here at Wide Open Country, we love sharing our favorite music, whether it's a brand new track that you haven't heard or an oldie that deserves some new attention. Each week, our team of music writers spotlight one song that stands out among the pack. Here's what we're listening to this week.
Lorie's Pick: "Asshole (Demo)," Ruston Kelly
No one is perfect, and the latest track from Ruston Kelly is a funny but brutally honest look at human faults. Inspired by a real arrest, "Asshole" has Kelly retelling the moments from the moment the cuffs hit his wrists to his ride home, driven by his understandably upset wife (who just happens to be Kacey Musgraves).
Bobbie Jean's Pick: "Other Arrangements," Parker Milsap
Parker Millsap's forthcoming album Other Arrangements finds the Oklahoma native trading folky, Southern gothic storytelling for timeless pop hooks. Case in point: the title track, an airy love song that builds from a flickering flame to a roaring fire. Millsap's soulful, powerhouse voice and band member Daniel Foulks' soaring fiddle deliver an intense plea to hold on to love in a fledgling relationship.
Rachel's Pick: "Anyone to Anybody," Izzy Heltai
Sweet Apathy, the latest release from Boston native Izzy Heltai, is one of the most aptly-named albums this year. Heltai counts Carole King, Jason Isbell, and Brandi Carlile as his influences, and that's clear in "Anyone to Anybody." The song finds Heltai's narrator at a crossroads: propositioning a would-be lover while refusing to make promises. In lesser hands, this would be a song for good times, but Heltai's too good a storyteller for that. He uses a straightforward folk rock melody to draw us in but mournful harmonies to illustrate the bittersweetness of such an ephemeral moment, the precipice of a decision. The sweet apathy illustrated here is a beautiful and heartbreaking sketch of youth. - Wide Open Country
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Izzy Heltai is an indie-folk singer-songwriter who puts a unique twist on traditional story-telling. Based out of Northampton, Massachusetts, Izzy’s songs reference specific images while simultaneously addressing broader universal truths, often inspired by the natural beauty of Western massachusetts.
"A voice that is equal parts gruff, sandpapered scratches, unfiltered and open just enough to let the story out and smooth” says redline roots, Izzy’s songs are unmistakably his own, with a strong emphasis on the nuanced dynamics of his voice. With complex melodies and playful wordplay, Izzy’s work sounds unlike anything you’ve heard before but is still guaranteed to get stuck in your head.
As a solo artist who spends the majority of his time on the road, Izzy’s songs often reflect the joys of a semi nomadic lifestyle – dealing with topics of impermanence, loneliness, love and its many manifestations, and what it means to find “home” outside of a permanent residence.
At 22-years-old, Izzy has already garnered a local loyal following in the New England Area. His debut EP “Sweet Apathy” was accompanied by a sold-out release show at the Historic Club Passim in Cambridge, MA, in January 2018, and Izzy continues to play other esteemed venues in the area, including Mass Moca, The Dreamaway Lodge and the Parlor room. He was also a recipient of a 2019 Club Passim Iguana Fund Grant for his forthcoming record.
In the summer of 2018, Izzy was named a finalist in Kerville Folk Festival’s New Folk Songwriting competition in Kerville, TX, and in 2017 was included in Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase in Hillsdale, NY. He has performed at both regionally and nationally acclaimed festivals such as Ossipee Valley Music Festival in Cornish, ME and Freshgrass Bluegrass Festival at Mass MoCa in North Adams, MA, three years in a row.
Band Members
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