Composer Boruch Sholom Blesofsky is firmly entrenched in the new generation of Jewish music. As a frum musician and composer he says he wants his music to be hip contemporary energetic — and an authentically Jewish experience.

Blesofsky’s compositions have appeared on his own recently released album Bishvili Nivra Ha’olam (which includes the hartzig “Tefillah LeMoishe” and the postmodern “Lo Yemalet” plus the popular Chabad niggun “Shuva”) and he’s also composed for Benny Friedman’s new album Fill the World with Light (the song “Reb Yehoshua Omer”) and Levi Falkowitz’s Achakeh Lo (the song “Veyazor”).

During the day Boruch Sholom works in payment technology. “I sing and play all the time though. My heart is in music but I think my music is better because of my involvement in the regular working world. A musician can be in la-la land but staying grounded helps me grow and improve through appreciation of other people. It helps my music stay real and relatable. I would tell all artists to get a job.”

Despite the modern sound Blesovsky’s music is inspired by his own heritage of chassidic music. “In 1908 my great-grandfather was a teenager in the shtetl of Blezhov near Karlin. He used to sing niggunim for the Stoliner Rebbe. Then a local ruffian started up with his family. My elter zeide defended his parents and thus became a target for the revenge of the local Russian youths. They could have killed him. He escaped and built his family in America baruch Hashem. He gave us the family name Blesofsky and he also passed on a certain style of singing and phrasing words.”

Although the first part of “Veyazor” has a modern beat and chord structure the second part of the song “V’atem hadveikim baShem Elokeichem…” is he says an imitation of his grandfather’s melodic intonation. “Can you hear the timeless shtiebel tune in the words chayim chayim kilchem hayom?” he asks. “That’s how the Zeide sang.”

Blesofsky wrote that part first then added the beginning to finish the song and brought it to Yeedle Werdyger who was producing his Bishvili CD. Neither Yeedle nor MBD liked the song though so Blesovsky contacted Avraham Fried. When he too passed on “Veyazor ” Blesovsky looked further. “Levi Falkowitz liked it and I could tell he would make something of it. His arrangements are beautiful — he made it into a hit.”

The song made it onto Mishpacha’s Heartbeats Succos CD in the “Songs of Today” medley as well to which Levi Falkowitz commented “I expected that from the song. It’s a mainstream niggun with a chassidishe geshmak.”

Although the Belsofsky heritage was Karlin-Stolin Boruch Sholom’s grandfather became a Chabad chassid. The Blesovskys continued to sing however. “We sang both Karlin and Chabad niggunim which were not that different both being Russian influenced. My father always chose the heavy songs. Deep and complex niggunim heavy stuff some of it from the Baal HaTanya himself. Not the type of song you can sing any Tuesday night.”

While his father was singing these intense tunes with his family young Boruch Sholom had become a huge MBD fan and imbibed all the influences of the golden voice and new chassidic tunes of his mentor. “MBD is always a lot of fun to listen to and always full of Yiddishe taam ” he says.

“Baruch Hashem my songs have made it onto the wedding circuit. Levi Falkowitz Shmueli Ungar Dovid Gabay and many others are singing ‘Veyazor’ and ‘Lo Yemalet’ night after night and the feedback I receive is that it pumps the olam with energy to get out there and dance. There is a certain power there that young people enjoy.”

Blesofsky’s new CD-in-the-planning slated for a summer release has a song called “Avrohom” after his zeide. “There is a powerful message in that song ” he says “but the delivery is fun. I don’t do serious deliveries. I’m not a rav I’m just a musician but yes I’m Jewish and connected to the sound of my Yiddishe neshamah.”