The California bass vocalist and singer/songwriter of Ukrainian and Russian descent is a former member of the multi-Grammy-winning, multi-platinum-selling pop a cappella group Pentatonix. He left that act in 2017, channeling his clear and precise vocal delivery into an indie folk solo career. After three EPs, he released a Shooter Jennings-produced debut album, Floating on a Dream, in May 2022, nodding to country, soul, and bluegrass.

He was born Avriel Benjamin Kaplan in 1989, one of three siblings raised in Visalia, California, close to the Sequoia National Park. After attending Divisadero Middle School and Mt. Whitney High School, Kaplan studied choral work and opera at Mt. San Antonio College, an establishment revered for its teaching in these disciplines. While at college he won the Monterrey Jazz Festival competition as part of the vocal jazz act Singcopation, and in 2009 he won the main prize at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella with another group, Fermata Nowhere.

In 2011, he joined Pentatonix just the day before they auditioned for the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off, a televised a cappella singing competition that they ultimately went on to win. Signed by RCA, Pentatonix's initial post-show prosperity came from their unique renditions of pop-focused material originally performed by the likes of Nicki Minaj, Daft Punk, and Imagine Dragons. This success was pushed to a new level after they started to release holiday-themed material. Between 2015 and 2017 they won three Grammy Awards and enjoyed two U.S. number one albums. However, after six years in L.A., Kaplan decided to escape the demands of Pentatonix's schedule and relocated to a forest just outside Nashville, Tennessee. He found recuperation in these new surroundings and began to write folk-based songs while sitting on his porch staring out into the trees. In April 2017, he self-released a Nick Drake-inspired solo single, "Fields and Pier," under the moniker Avriel the Sequoias, shortly afterwards announcing his departure from Pentatonix. An EP, Sage Stone, appeared that June, as did a bluegrass take on Outkast's "Hey Ya" the following month.

In 2019, after signing a deal with Fantasy Records, he reverted to using the Avi Kaplan name and released no fewer than six singles, including the lushly produced "Otherside," which recalled both David Crosby and Fleet Foxes. February 2020 brought the seven-track I'll Get By EP, and in August he released the Lean on Me EP led by a cover of Bill Withers' classic 1972 number one single. In April 2021, Kaplan issued "Song for the Thankful," a one-off single with a clear Glen Campbell influence. Later that year came an extensive European tour, during which he released "First Place I Go" a rich, pedal-steel-drenched track which went on to open his debut LP, Floating on a Dream, issued the following year. ~ James Wilkinson, Rovi