About
Called “one of the most talented duos to take stage in NYC” by Deli Magazine, The Whispering Tree are singer/songwriter El Kleiner and multi-instrumentalist Elie Brangbour. Together, they craft richly immersive folk-rock brimming with evocative lyrics and a panoramic musicality.
Invisible Forces, the fourth recording by the fiercely independent twosome, debuted at #1 on the International Folk DJ charts, with four songs in the top 20. The album was self-produced, fan-funded and recorded at El and Elie's home studio in Beacon, NY and at Old Soul Studio in Catskill, NY and explores a deeply personal and political landscape, with themes of hope, despair and social consciousness.
Since its 2007 inception, The Whispering Tree has issued two albums and two EPs, and toured nationally and internationally. The duo has also earned prime critical acclaim from The Big Takeover Magazine and Keyboard Magazine, among others. Other marquee career moments include being Kerrville New Folk finalists; Philadelphia Songwriter’s Project winners; and El and Elie having the honor to lend their voices to Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt's album, A More Perfect Union.
El and Elie are currently working on their next album, slated for release in 2024
- #1 Album, #1 Artist, #2 Song - International Folk DJ Charts, Sept 2018
- 2017 Southwest Regional Folk Alliance Official Showcase
- 2017 New Folk Finalist
- 2017 Philadelphia Songwriter's Project Winner
- Performed on Pete Seeger and Lorre Wyatt's "A More Perfect Union"
- North East Regional Folk Alliance official Showcase
- North East Regional Folk Alliance Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase
- Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist
- Featured on "One Tree Hill" and "The Client List
Press
"Great, great voices, wonderful arrangements...a beautifully produced album."
- Frank Hennessy, BBC Celtic Heartbeat
"Invisible Forces is a musically diverse take on classic Midwest Americana sung with the soul of the gospel"
"In the field of excellence, without flights of fancy, without special effects, aiming with measure and taste directly at the fulcrum."
"Hauntingly Beautiful"
"A socially potent commentary of humankind's modern times"
"The Whispering Tree live is an intimate slice of warm folk roots"
"The Whispering Tree tastily combine wistful folk, mellow rock and pinches of gypsy jazz and bluegrass into a compelling compilation of tightly written tunes"
- Keyboard Magazine
"One of the most talented duos to take stage in NYC."
- Deli Magazine
"Spacious, sweeping, snow peak-scaling folk rock."
- The Big Takeover
"The Whispering Tree manage to be extremely accessible without compromising the intelligence of their music. To say that Kleiner sounds like an edgier version of Tift Merritt, or Shelby Lynne in a pensive, cosmopolitan moment, doesn't do justice to the originality of her songwriting or her unaffected, disarmingly direct vocals. The band were amazing."
- Lucid Culture