Beat logo

How East of Eli Changed My Life..

Music is truly medicine for the soul.

By Maelisha KahlbaumPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
1

Have you ever heard a song or an album that made you break down and think about life, stare at the ceiling and feel the lyrics wrap around you like a blanket? That’s how I feel when I listen to East of Eli’s music. Over the past three years I have gone through some emotional and dark times in my life and I was looking for a ladder to pull myself out and this is around the time that Supergirl Season 2 was on TV which started Alex’s character’s coming out story line.

In an interview Chyler Leigh and Her real-life husband Nathan West released a bunch of single EPs’ with their band East of Eli. There was my ladder - I fell in love with the amazing talent that they both have as actors and musicians, and their voices are angelic, and it feels like you are being transported to another planet. They have an interesting history from when they first started dating that includes a trouble with drug use and other debacles, but they overcame many obstacles and built their life together with remarkable children and they are living happily ever after.

Watching music videos on YouTube – I notice that Nathan West and Chyler Leigh honestly have the best chemistry on stage and it is proof that they have found true love in a world that is lacking love and their music is resonating the message that love will break through and travel millions of lightyears to be the light that will bring everyone out of the darkness and that is exactly what their music has done for me.

Time to get personal – When my father got really sick it was around early January when he took a turn for the worse, I was at work and through my headphones I had East of Eli on a repeated playlist and I listened to their songs to distract me enough to finish my job even though I was thinking every possible way to get out of work to see my Father. When I got home after 12 -hour shift, my Father was gone. Instead of drowning my grief and sadness with alcohol or drugs I turned to the best thing – Music. Specifically, East of Eli.

My favorite song is called Nowhere - and it’s a duet with band’s front man Nathan West and his wife Chyler Leigh. The opening lyric is “When the earth begins to break, and I fall through...” The Lyrics are powerful with such emotion from the past experiences and pain and it hits me so hard and I feel my heartstrings strumming along. There are multiple songs like this one so If you have a moment – give East of Eli a listen on Apple music, Spotify, or YouTube.

For the past 11 months I have been on an emotional roller coaster of happy moments where I gotten awards, or it was my birthday and my father wasn’t here to celebrate and in those moments, I was buried in a deep sand pit waiting for a sort of rescue and even though I had my family try to keep me from sinking, listening to Lost Transmission acted as hydraulic lift and it worked for the most part but it also gave me a new perspective on life and that’s to take life by the hand and be free to love, free to choose, and free to be who you are. Hopefully after reading my submission I imagine that many of you will give East of Eli a listen and let their music inspire you as it did for me.

humanity
1

About the Creator

Maelisha Kahlbaum

Musician/Artist from Hawaii. Pop Culture Nerd. Spreading Aloha through music and writing. Mahalo Nui!

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.