bio
Eli Conley is a singer-songwriter, teaching artist, and activist based in Sacramento, California. He makes country-tinged folk music for queer and trans people, justice seekers, and anyone who doesn’t fit in a box. Conley's voice is tender and heartfelt, with songs that can leave you teary-eyed yet hopeful. As a queer transgender man from the South, his music tells stories that aren’t always reflected in roots music.
Conley founded Queer Country West Coast, a regular series featuring LGBTQ+ blues, folk, and country artists in California. He has opened for Carsie Blanton, Heather Mae, and Grammy-winner Kimya Dawson, and been featured in Newsweek, NPR's All Things Considered, the HuffPost and the Advocate.
The Eli Conley Quartet debuted in the summer of 2025. The string band features Natalie Hagwood on cello (Dear Darling, Solabel), Tom Shewmake on mandolin (One Button Suit, SloCoast), and Benjamin Kopf on double bass (SloCoast, Solabel). This band of seasoned players weaves together tight three-part harmonies and acoustic textures that are at times hushed and intimate, at others soaring and dramatic. At the heart of their sound is Eli's singular voice, urging us to stay open to our grief and our joy.
Eli Conley's third album Searching for What's True was released in 2023. Themes of uncertainty, ache, and loss come up again and again on this record. The songs are drawn from the concrete and immediate details of daily life: a stuffed animal clutched in a child's arms, a colorful sunset after a forest fire, a confederate statue toppling to the ground.
Searching for What's True is Eli's first release since being diagnosed with a repetitive stress injury that forced him to stop playing guitar for many months. After wrist surgery and careful rehab, he came back to songwriting with a renewed sense of purpose. On the album's first single "Making Something New," he describes the work of an artist as "finding beauty in the wreckage / making meaning of the grief / when we tell our stories true we find release." His deep belief in the transformative power of creativity stems not just from his own experiences, but his many years offering singing and songwriting classes for queer and transgender people and allies.