Asaf Avidan (Hebrew: אסף אבידן, born 1980) is an Israeli folk/rock musician known for his breakthrough debut album, "The Reckoning", which was created with a group of backup musicians under the name "Asaf Avidan and the Mojos". The album received positive critical reviews and earned Avidan a nomination for Best Israeli Artist at the upcoming MTV Europe Awards.
Avidan was born in 1980 in Jerusalem. His parents had met in Los Angeles. His father worked for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and when Asaf was seven, the family moved to Jamaica. They returned when Asaf was eleven, and he was sent to art school, where he studied cinema. He was drafted to the IDF and served for ten months, first in the Duchifat Unit and then as translator from Jamaican. He studied animation in Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and worked as a voice actor.
In 2006 he self-released the debut EP "Now That You're Leaving" and started playing solo acoustic gigs around Israel which earned a cult following. Avidan decided to expand his musical horizons and recruited a full band dubbed "The Mojos". With this band Avidan toured in Israel and abroad and in 2008 released the debut LP "The Reckoning".
The first single off Avidan's debut album is "Weak", with a video produced by one of Avidan's friends as a project for film school. Despite the fact that the album was self-released, it garnered a positive review from Israel's leading music critic Yoav Kutner and songs from it were picked for the Galgalatz playlist. Avidan was also the support act in the Morrissey and The Gutter Twins concerts in Israel.
In December 2008, Rolling Stone magazine announced that the single "The Reckoning" will be distributed with its next issue in Europe. Avidan said that "this is a great honor and certainly a positive beginning ahead of 2009, in which we expect many developments in the international front".
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