Oren Bloedow

Who is Oren Bloedow?

Oren Bloedow is an American singer, guitarist, and composer. He founded the band Elysian Fields in 1995 with Jennifer Charles.

His father, Jerry Bloedow, b. 1928, is a playwright, poet and film editor, whose theater, the Hardware Poet's Playhouse, was a fixture in the New York avante-garde scene in the 1950s and early 60s.

Oren's first serious musical affiliations were with Phillip Johnston, Bobby Previte and Wayne Horvitz, all of whom worked with him in Bobby Radcliff's blues band in the 1980s. With Radcliff, Oren backed up Dr. John, Otis Rush and Johnny Copeland, also Paul Butterfield shortly before he died. Another close collaboration was with underground guitarist Ron Anderson, later of San Francisco's The Molecules. In 1985, a friend of Ron's introduced Oren to 101 Crustaceans, whose leader, Ed Pastorini, is Oren's oldest continuing musical associate, and was later a member of Elysian Fields. Oren consistently names Ed Pastorini as his favorite musical artist.

He attended New England Conservatory in 1987-88, and on returning, started gigging frequently at the Knitting Factory on Houston St. Previte, Horvitz and Johnston were all playing there, and so were many musicians Oren came to play with, like Samm Bennett, The Jazz Passengers, Marc Ribot, Bosho, Gary Lucas and innumerable others.