Moshav (band)
Moshav (band)
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Moshav (band)

Moshav, formerly known as Moshav Band, is an Israeli-American Jewish rock band originating from Moshav Mevo Modi'im. Founded in 1996 by Yehuda Solomon and Duvid Swirsky, the group moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and have released ten studio albums. With a sound incorporating elements of alternative rock, folk, funk, and reggae, they were credited, alongside Soulfarm and Blue Fringe, with advancing Jewish rock in the early 2000s.

Moshav was formed in Israel by neighbors Yehuda Solomon and Duvid Swirsky. The children of American-born parents, Solomon and Swirsky were raised in Mevo Modi'im, a moshav founded by musician and spiritual leader Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, who lived in the community and became a role model and mentor for the boys. Solomon is the son of Ben Zion Solomon, a founding member of 1970s Jewish rock group Diaspora Yeshiva Band, and his siblings include Noah Solomon, who had previously started the band Soulfarm, and Yosef and Meir, who would later join Moshav. Swirsky and the Solomon brothers often performed on Ben Zion's albums and as part of Carlebach's backing band in their childhood and teens. They eventually began performing as a band in 1996, which was dubbed the Moshav Band by locals due to their place of origin.

As the Moshav Band, they developed a live following in the late 1990s among North American college students studying abroad in Israel. A group of American fans raised money for the band to tour college Hillel Houses in the United States. Two other fans, Canadian Hebrew University students Sig Shore and Justin Korda, convinced philanthropist and Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman Sr. to fund the band's first full-scale tour in North America and the recording of their debut album, 1998's The Things You Can't Afford. The album was recorded in Los Angeles, where the band would officially relocate as of 2000.

Moshav continued to tour and release albums throughout the 2000s, performing internationally and at venues including Irving Plaza, House of Blues, B.B. King's Blues Club, the Knitting Factory, and The Bitter End. They played the 2003 Beit Shemesh Jewish Rock and Soul Festival alongside Shlomo Katz, Adi Ran, and Reva L'Sheva. In 2005, they released their fifth studio album, Malachim, as well as a greatest hits album, The Best of Moshav Band: Higher and Higher.

After changing their name from Moshav Band to simply Moshav, the group's mainstream profile was raised with the release of their sixth studio album, 2006's Misplaced, which was recorded with producer Ron Aniello, mixing engineer Brendan O'Brien, and musicians including drummer Matt Chamberlain, and was released by the Sony-affiliated Jewish Music Group (JMG) label. 2008 saw the band embark on a mini-tour of the East Coast with shows in Manhattan, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, followed by a series of concerts in Israel; during this time, the band acquired former Kelly Clarkson violinist Nimrod Nol. That summer, they performed at Vancouver Island's Big Time Out Festival alongside Matisyahu. In June 2009, they returned to Vancouver to perform at Granville Island Stage as part of a fundraising gala for Vancouver Hebrew Academy.

A seventh album, Dancing in a Dangerous World, was released in 2010. That same year, they gave a free public concert at United Hebrew Congregation in Chesterfield, Missouri.

In August 2012, the band launched a new tour with a show at Philadelphia's World Cafe Live. By this time, drummer Tamir Bar Zeli, guitarist Geoffrey Parry, and bassist Matt Cheadle has been added to the lineup, and the group became known for appearing at numerous benefits, fundraisers, and community events. In November 2013, they performed in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood as part of the annual Sephardic Music Festival. Their eighth album, New Sun Rising, initially planned for release in late 2012, was ultimately released in 2014. In March of that year, they performed at Jewlicious Festival with Matisyahu, who was also featured on the album's single "World On Fire". That year also saw the release of Shabbat Vol. 1, an album of original, traditional, and Carlebach-composed songs recorded at the band's home studio in Los Angeles. A follow-up, Shabbat Vol. 2, would be released in 2018.

In 2017, the band performed at Philadelphia's Gershman Y to benefit the Center City Orthodox synagogue Mekor Habracha; they had previously raised money for the synagogue with a 2012 show at Union Transfer. They also performed at the annual Jeffersonville-based Jewish music festival The Camping Trip in 2016 and 2017, alongside acts including Zusha, Matisyahu, Soulfarm, Kosha Dillz, and Levi Robin. They were set to return to the festival in 2018, with a lineup including Gad Elbaz, Hebro, and G-Nome Project, before its suspension due to legal difficulties.

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