#90 Elijah Wald, writer musician

Elijah Wald is a American folk blues guitarist and music historian, and 2002 Grammy Award winner. He says there was always music around when he was young. He started playing when he was seven and, after seeing Pete Seeger when he was eight or nine, he decided he wanted to be a musician. He also was influenced by Woody Guthrie's book Bound for Glory and, after studying with Dave Van Ronk in New York, spent 15 years playing guitar and traveling the world. He has published more than a thousand articles, mostly about folk, roots and international music for various magazines and newspapers, including over ten years as "world music" writer for the Boston Globe. Elijah says that music can connect people and that it is important to go out and find other types of cultures and music.