Shlomit Levi () is an Israeli singer. She is a member of the folk metal group Orphaned Land, performing on their albums Mabool (2004), The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR (2010) and Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs (2018). She currently performs with American guitarist RebbeSoul as the world music duo Shlomit & RebbeSoul.
Early life
Levi was born in
Kiryat Ekron to a
Yemenite Jews family before moving to
Rehovot when she was 10. Her parents came to Israel from
Yemen as teenagers during Operation Magic Carpet.
[ Archived at rebbesoul.com.] She began singing at the age of three and was exposed to traditional Yemenite music by her mother and grandmother, although she preferred listening to Western and Israeli music to fit in with her friends.
She stopped singing Yemenite music as a teenager but was later drawn back to it after hearing
Ofra Haza's
Yemenite Songs album.
Levi attended Orthodox Judaism schools for first through fourth grades.
Career
Orphaned Land
Levi was put in touch by a mutual friend with the group
Orphaned Land, who were auditioning female singers. At her audition, she impressed the band with her ability to sing
mawwal. While not an official member, she toured with the band from 2004 to 2012 and appeared on two of their albums,
Mabool (2004) and
The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR (2010).
Shlomit and RebbeSoul
In 2011, Levi was introduced by Yedidia Snir to American musician Bruce Burger ("
RebbeSoul"), who had recently moved to Israel.
They began collaborating as Shlomit & RebbeSoul and released an album,
The Seal of Solomon, in 2015. She also collaborated with Burger and
George Simaan on a version of "Erev Shel Shoshanim".
Personal life
Levi lived in Kibbutz Givat Haim Ihud
before moving to Tenafly, New Jersey in 2013
and later to Cresskill.
She is married to Boaz Arzi, a software engineer, and has two daughters.
Discography
Solo
With Orphaned Land
-
Mabool (2004)
-
Sentenced/Orphaned Land (2005)
-
Ararat EP (2005)
-
The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR (2010)
-
The Road to OR-Shalem (2011)
-
Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs (2018)
Shlomit & RebbeSoul
-
The Seal of Solomon (2015)
External links
