Arielle Silver
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Arielle Silver

Los Angeles, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 1999 | SELF

Los Angeles, California, United States | SELF
Established on Jan, 1999
Solo Folk Americana

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"American Songwriter Daily Discovery: Arielle Silver Searches For Meaning Amidst Tragedy in “What Really Matters” - "We love this track!""

Arielle Silver was on a ten-year break from playing music when the songwriting muse reappeared. “What Really Matters” her comeback lead single, was born from both an introspective internal analysis of her own life as well as two tragic events near her Los Angeles residence. The accompanying video premieres here on American Songwriter.

“In fall 2018, southern California was rocked by a mass shooting at a local country bar and, a day later, the eruption of the Woolsey and Hill Fires,” she recalls. “It seemed everyone like us who was not in an evacuation area was glued to the news, offering support, and holing up inside. It was a terrible time of loss across the state.”

Silver picked up her trusty 2001 Guild D-55 acoustic, which is her go-to songwriting instrument (“me and this guitar are growing old together!”) and penned “What Really Matters.” ‘What would you take if your world was on fire/Riding the wind on a tinder of leaves/Flames flying in like an enemy fight/Sun rising red, tell me what would you grieve?” The track is filled with an infectious percussive groove, hand claps, foot stomps and an urgent commanding vocal that melds KT Tunstall with Florence and the Machine.

“In normal daily life, we fill our lives with all kinds of superfluous things. We can afford to have vices, to wax nostalgic about the past, to spend money on things we don’t need and, sometimes, don’t even want. But in the midst of tragedy, whether community tragedies like the fires here and the recent Nashville tornado, or in personal tragedies like the loss of a loved one or end of a relationship, we find a deeper understanding of what really matters. Those very words are where this song emerged. “What Really Matters” became both concretely about the fires and metaphorically about those other times in life when we feel like we’re emotionally burned down to the coals.”

After releasing three albums and playing regularly throughout her twenties, Silver put music aside at the end of the 00’s. “Though my heart still ached to write songs and sing, I found that I couldn’t do it anymore,” she recalls.

“In summer and fall 2019, I was working at an office during the day and teaching most evenings, plus I have a family. But earlier in the year I’d run a successful crowdfunding campaign for this project, so I felt immense support from all the contributors. They believed I could do this – “this” being making a new album after more than a decade since my last one. I was burning the candle at both ends, for sure, but time is strangely flexible when there’s something that you deeply desire to do.

“What Really Matters” is the first single off her full album A Thousand Tiny Torches which will be released in May. The full record was recorded at Secret World Studios, which is in the historic Sound City complex, and produced by Shane Alexander. “When you turn into Sound City, it’s like the ghosts of rock n roll’s past are cheering you on.” Silver recorded with a live band. “All the instruments are real, all the parts. Denny Weston Jr played drums – I first saw him play on tour with KT Tunstall and was thrilled that he was up for this project. Darby Orr played bass – even before we married, I called him a badass bass man, and I was thrilled that he was a part of this. Carl Byron played organ and keys, and Jesse Siebenberg added masterful lap steel parts.”

Prior to moving to the West Coast, Silver spent several years in Boston, where she immersed herself in the music scene and found inspiration in Lori McKenna’s writing. “She tells very specific stories with nuance and an eye to the universal. Her craft is different now from when I used to see her live in Boston in the 90s, but she’s always been a master at illuminating small details from daily life to reveal deep truths of the heart.”

With her songwriting muse back in her soul, Silver is back to performing onstage at house concerts and listening rooms, including the fabled Hotel Café in Hollywood. Plans are underway for West Coast tours and upcoming dates in Boston. “When I was younger, I was performing,” she confirms. “Now, I’m connecting.” - American Songwriter


"Americana UK - Arielle Silver “What Really Matters”"

Arielle Silver is a baker of pies and a penner of poetry – and with three previous releases to her name is a musician with a back catalogue to her name. ‘What Really Matters‘ is taken from her new album ‘A Thousand Tiny Torches’ – her first release for ten years which will be out in the Summer. What’s been going on in Ms Silver’s world?It’s a story of real life intervening – moving from Boston to LA, divorcing, remarrying, teaching yoga philosophy and working behind the scenes in the music industry. Stuff, in short. And ‘What Really Matters‘ is about stuff as well – if your world was falling apart what would you grab and go with ? It’s a question that was inspired by double tragedies – in November 2018, there was a shooting at the Borderline Bar in Thousand Oaks, CA and the next day, the Woolsey and Hill fires broke out, burning over 96K acres of Southern California. Still getting over the shock of the deaths of 13 of their neighbours people were then told to pack up and get the hell out of the fire’s path. So, Arielle Silver asks, “What would you take if your world was on fire?” before proffering suggestions “Flask of whisky, stash of pot? Letters from a lover that you should have long forgot?” What, in your life, really does matter and is irreplaceable? It’s simpler than you think. - Americana UK


"Reignland - Indie-folk artist Arielle Silver releases a new Christmas song, “Lonely Time of Year”"

Need a tune to get you into the holiday mood? Indie-folk artist Arielle Silver has you covered with her new release, “Lonely Time of Year”. The added ringing bells and pedaling organ create a beautiful holiday atmosphere for the listener. The song paints the picture of a fresh break up around the holiday season which is so relatable that it’s crazy. “Lonely Time of Year” is now available to stream and download on digital music platforms worldwide. - Reignland


"EILE Magazine"

Listen: Arielle Silver- What Really Matters
Posted by EILE Magazine on March 4, 2020 in Culture & Arts, Multimedia, Music, Reviews

Boston-based, alto-voiced, singer-songwriter, Arielle Silver, has graced these pages before, and now has a great new single out called What Really Matters, from her album, A Thousand Tiny Torches – a new Indie/Folk/Americana compilation.

Arielle draws on her own experience for inspiration in her song-writing, and in What Really Matters, she recalls “a harrowing season in Southern California as gunshots ricocheted through a country bar and the surrounding hills ignited with apocalyptic wildfires”. She expresses feelings that most of us can identify with at some time in our lives when she sings:

‘When you’re burned down to the bedrock
When you’re scraped down to the coals
When everything you thought you knew is changing
And you feel the devil fighting for your soul’

Great lyrics, and great melody, this song tells how, when everything seems to be against you, that’s when you realise what really matters. Refreshing, honest, and well worth a listen – Enjoy!

-MKB

https://www.instagram.com/ariellesilver/

https://www.facebook.com/ariellesilvermusic/

spotify.com/artist/6uRNn0bvnyMwYgmZJduu16 - EILE Magazine


"Voyage LA - Meet Arielle Silver"

Today we’d like to introduce you to Arielle Silver.

Arielle, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Sometime last year, I had a dream: I was looking out at the world, distracted by all the fascinating things it offered. Every once in a while, I would remember that I was carrying a baby in a plastic bag. In slow motion I’d look down, open the top, and find the baby still alive. It was not thriving, of course, but it was, miraculously, still alive. Each time I opened the bag, I said to myself, don’t suffocate the baby. Each time, I was amazed to find I hadn’t.

When I woke that morning, I made a bee-line to the backyard. There was a forgotten garden area tucked behind the garage. It was filled with debris – fallen branches from the mulberry, some old tomato cages. Having barely ever thought of it before, that morning I felt an urgent need to clean it out. By afternoon, it was raked clear. By the next week, I’d dismantled the raised bed. Within a month and a half, I had built a shed with two windows, a chalkboard wall, and a door that let in light when it was closed.

This might seem trivial, but the backstory is that before I moved to Los Angeles 13 years ago, I had been a recording and performing singer/songwriter. I had devoted my life to music, and crossing the country in a tour van with a band had been my lifelong dream. And yet – when I was finally a touring songwriter, I found that living on the road was a hard existence. I felt homeless, which I truly was, and unmoored. I wanted vegetables, a familiar bed, space alone to work on new songs, a community. I wanted to go for a long walk and not get lost. Meanwhile, every day, we were in another town. The band and I crossed the country from coast to coast, and I started to break down. At the end of the 6-month tour, I packed my guitar away. If music was a person, you could say we got divorced, divided up our friends. I wouldn’t go to our old haunts. Didn’t even sing in the car. A decade passed…

And then, in 2018, I woke from the dream about the baby, cleared the garden, and built the shed. Nearly immediately, after a decade, I came full-bodied, full-heartedly back to songwriting.

I spent the rest of the year writing new material and learning as much as possible about the new indie music industry. In 2019, I raised funds for a new album via a successful crowdfunding campaign. I’ve spent the rest of the year recording, and first single released this holiday season.

In other words, amazingly, this baby is still alive. And thriving.

Has it been a smooth road?
When you’re talking about life callings or any other deeply important work, I don’t believe it’s ever going to be a smooth road.

The week of my first gig in ten years, I lost my voice entirely. I thought perhaps I should cancel, but every obstacle can be seen as a question — how bad do you want it? So, I sucked on a bunch of candy and drank tea till I was swimming, and I played that gig and every one since.

A month later, I landed a giant crack in my beautiful Guild. I looked back at the universe and said, “First my voice, now my guitar? Yes, I still want it.”

In other words, I’ve come to see obstacles I encounter as part of the journey, rather than as some kind of false call to halt. There will always be challenges, and they’ve gotten harder since that first gig. On every step of this journey back to the music I’ve had to confront what I don’t know, and then learn or relearn it. Crowdfunding? Mailing lists? Writing charts? Performing? Website building? Merch? Spotify wasn’t even around in the first iteration of my career. The industry has entirely changed since I released my last album, and back then, I was on a record label so half the stuff I didn’t even think about. It will never be a smooth road. But then, that’s not the point of a journey.

What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
I believe that the power of art is that it expresses some part of the otherwise ineffable. I’ve lived enough to lose and then re-discover my dream. I’ve navigated intangible grief, and have met a lot of people and heard a lot of stories about their own grief.

Frequently in my songs, I try to write simple truths about otherwise complicated situations. I try to write songs in a way that a tough idea can be held and looked at, even as the stories and people in my songs exist in a world of weather and furniture, loss and hope. Through songwriting, I want to understand something about the world or our existence in it. And I want it to be palatable – that is, with melody and rhythm that a person of today’s sensibilities can latch onto.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Where my daily life takes place – mostly Burbank to Sherman Oaks – I often feel like I’m in a small town, with the best of what that kind of community offers. It’s a small town filled with creative people who believe that self-care and well-being are an important piece of doing good in the world. So many people in my tiny corner are incredibly, vibrantly alive – making top notch art while committed to evolving as people and making the world a better place.

And even after 13 years here, I’m still smitten with the natural world of Los Angeles. We might pay a premium to live here, but we’re surrounded by, or in a quick driving distance from, what I think is some of the most beautiful nature on earth. When I moved here after years of Boston winters, a friend said, I can’t wait till you tell me how much you love February. It’s true. The sunshine here is life-changing.

Of course, Los Angeles isn’t a small town. It’s a giant, unwieldy city with giant, unwieldy problems that come from an array of conflicts. We have housing problems, significant income disparity, political corruption, and inefficient channels for change that inevitably most negatively impact the most vulnerable among us. My expertise is not in politics, but I believe we can do a whole lot better than we’re doing. It’s heartbreaking how many people are living on the streets and in river-side tents. These are human beings scraping the barrel, and we call ours a first-world nation.

And then, on the upside, this city of small town communities is full of people who are putting forth genuine efforts to understand our problems and take action to help those who are most vulnerable. One thing is certain, and that is that Los Angeles is dynamic and ever-changing. The longer I live here, the more fascinating I find it.

What’s on the horizon for you?
I recently released a holiday single, Lonely Time Of Year, about the heartbreak that comes when you know it’s time to leave something, especially when everyone around is celebrating the holiday season.

My new album, A Thousand Tiny Torches, is slated for release in early 2020. We’re mixing the album right now and I’m super excited about releasing these song-babies out into the world.
Starting in January, at the recording studio where we tracked the album, I’m teaching a songwriting workshop. One of my favorite things is to hang out with people who are as nerdy as I ask about writing, so that’ll be super fun. Also in January, and a few other times during the year, I will co-lead yoga retreats with my husband, Darby Orr, who is a composer and yoga teacher. And the throughout 2020, I plan to tour, write a lot, and continue teaching yoga and writing.
The link to my holiday single, Lonely Time Of Year, is: http://smarturl.it/LonelyTimeOfYear
Contact Info:

Website: www.ariellesilver.com
Email: arielle@ariellesilver.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ariellesilver/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ariellesilvermusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/relsilver
Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVlmhK3EZ376pkK964jJbmw - VoyageLA


"A Little More Vodka, A Little Less Milk"

When music comes from the heart and from personal experience, it really matters, and that isn’t meant to be a play on words. Arielle Silver has crafted a masterpiece in What Really Matters (seen / heard here). It’s a triumphant song about just that - what really matters. It is a song that comes from the gun smoke of a bar shooting and the ashes of the California hills, but it is not a song about giving in or giving up, but about really knowing what is important in life.

What Really Matters is the lead-off single to a new long-player by Silver, A Thousand Tiny Torches, due out sometime this year. This new music is the product of a resurrection of inspiration and productivity following a long break for Silver. If the messages and music are as strong on Torches remaining tracks as they are with this new single, this may be one of the best releases this year-and it’s only March!

The video carries the message well, highlighting what we need to let go of and what we need to embrace. Arielle sings in the first verse and refrain:

“What would you take if your world was on fire
Riding the wind on a tinder of leaves
Flames flying in like an enemy fight
Sun rising red, tell me what would you grieve

When you’re burned down to the bedrock
When you’re scraped down to the coals
When everything you thought you knew is changing
And you feel the devil fighting for your soul

Flask of whisky, stash of pot
Letters from a lover that you should have long forgot
When your tidal waves of tears turn to laughter
That’s when you know it comes down
Down down down down down down down
To what really matters”

It’s like discovering the meaning of life, but instead it is the meaning of hope, the meaning of triumph! This is an anthem for all to sing and sing again!

You can find more information on Arielle Silver by heading up to her web site. There’s a beautiful bio up there that highlights her journey to get to A Thousand Tiny Torches, and it’s worth reading for anyone who loses their way and needs to find a road home. On the web site as well are all of the social links you need, and while you can get there from the web site, you can also check out her bandcamp.com site where you can pick up her new single, plus much of her back catalog.

Check out this amazing artist now! Pick up her music and watch for A Thousand Tiny Torches soon! Thanks to Trend for introducing me to this track and this artist. - A Little More Vodka


"The Boston Globe"

"Lovely songwriting and arrangements" - Jim Sullivan


"Performing Songwriter Jan 2007"

"No, it’s not a typo. The latest from Boston-based Arielle Silver melds multiple concepts into one word—an appropriate move from a songwriter who fuses clarinet with electric guitar, 7/8 drumbeats with folk melodies and angsty lyrics with snippets of Fiddler on the Roof.

Silver’s smoky alto recalls fellow rocker Patti Smith, while drummer Scott Manley’s powerful yet complex rhythms beg for comparisons to drum gods like Rush’s Neil Peart. The interplay between Silver and Manley is so locked-in, it’s not hard to believe that after finishing the record the duo hit the road indefinitely in their veggie oil-powered van.

Silver’s tough-yet-tender vocals move through the space where Lou Reed meets Chrissie Hynde, ensuring that Somethingprettysomethingtrue lives up to its name and then some." - DIY reviews


"Boston Herald"

Local singer/songwriter Silver first seduces with a rich, highly emotional voice. Though her arty, lyrical flair reflects Ani DiFranco, Joni Mitchell and even Jane’s Addiction, it’s a very personal modern rock approach. On her new, gorgeously produced CD, “Something Pretty Something True,” Silver even plays clarinet. - *****


"Lancaster Barfly"

"On The Dashboard of a Shaky Car...a pastiche of finely tuned, female-fronted folk rock that hangs around the meeting point between Joni Mitchell, Beth Orton and Patti Griffin." - Sapphire Media Inc


"Raleigh Spectator"

"...beautifully throaty, melodic voice belting meticulous poems. A truly talented songwriter." - *****


"The Noise- Rock Around Boston"

"a perfect voice and perfect musicianship on this... an urgency, passion, and honesty in the voice and intelligence in the writing and arranging... I like this: there’s a melancholy that hangs over this that just seems right." (Slimedog) - December 2006


"Collected Sounds- Women in Music"

How to classify? This is a tough one. There's something folky, but there's also a psychedelic feel.

Especially on "Flame I Should Fear". Arielle has a nice deep soulful voice that goes from soothing to an almost growl. Then the song goes into a show tune. Yes, I said a show tune, she sings a little "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" which is from Fiddler on the Roof. But she does it in a cool way.

Twice I singled out "Cover Me". It almost has a 70s feel, yet still fresh.

"How Beautiful, You" is lovely... achingly so.

Then we do a 180 and "5pm Busk" is quite funky. Reminding one of Ani DiFranco.

All in all this is a great record that is unique and has a variety of styles without sounding schizophrenic.

- a Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds


"Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange-- www.acousticmusic.com-- FAME"

Vocally akin to Chrissie Hynde with an Armatrading shade and powered by an impressive and expansive folk funk ala Dave Matthews, Silver's first full-length studio CD — recorded 'twixt rush hour and bedtime on Boston's south side' — deserves as much attention as we can manage to give it.

Though some of the songs may at times sound like they're cut from the same mold (Time and Space, Cover Me, Missing You) there is more than enough intriguing material on somethingprettysomethingtrue to hold Silver well above the widening sinkhole of singer/songwriters who have nothing to add to the human discourse, but, through available technology and carelessness, feel the need to add it anyway.

With a keen sense of how a song works; expressive lyrics ("There are imprints of time on my skin"); and tireless, punchy performances from her tourmates — bassist Mariana Iranzi and hubby drummer Scott Manley — Silver wrestles with and makes peace with the world on the energetic title track, Flame I Should Fear, Cowboy, Pretty Parting Goodbye, Pull and Push and the evocative Prefer You Were A Girl. Several New England musical luminaries add spice and depth to this winning collection, especially cellist Lindsay Mac and co-producer/arranger Chris Florio on guitars and keyboards. - Mike Jurkovic


"Smother.net"

Arielle’s sophomore release “Somethingprettysomethingtrue” tries to be a lot of things but it doesn’t try to really break free of pop-rock which is a good thing. Silver’s vocals are empowered pro-feminine lyrics that are refreshing in the land of “man”. The music reminds me of classic R.E.M. at times with more orchestral pop and indie rock mixed in with delightful results. Wanting to find some hot female singer/songwriter folk-pop that’s nifty, dynamic, and outreaching? Look no further!

- J-Sin - *****


"Indie-music.com"

"You could fall miles into Arielle Silver’s powerful voice. That rich and throaty voice strides, warbles and leaps all across the album as she delves deep into her poetry journal."
- by Charles Martin (11/06)


Discography

Singles
Headlights - April 2020
What Really Matters - March 2020
Lonely Time Of Year - Dec 2019

Albums

A Thousand Tiny Torches - June 26, 2020
Something Pretty Something True - 2006
On The Dashboard Of A Shaky Car - 2005
3 Minute Song - 1999

Photos

Bio

Arielle Silver crafts songs that are luminous, literate, and alive. A Thousand Tiny Torches, the singer-songwriter’s new Indie Folk Americana collection, is a testament to her renewal of inspiration, the rekindling of dreams, and the redemptive power and connective compassion that defines her artistry.

Her rich, expressive alto voice frames expansive melodies that echo the American heartland. Now based in Los Angeles, Arielle knows this geography well. A performing itinerary transported her from Club Passim in her adopted hometown of Boston to venues including Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta and Nashville’s 12th & Porter, plus stops to the Southwest, as she steered a vegetable oil-fueled vehicle across Texas to Abilene, Odessa and Austin.

Ten years ago, with three well-received releases accompanied by national tours, she lost sight of her future as an artist. “Though my heart still ached to write songs and sing, I found that I couldn't do it anymore,” she recalls.

Arielle moved to the City of the Angels. She divorced and remarried, taught yoga philosophy, and worked behind the scenes in the music industry. She penned and published essays and poems, and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets. She baked innumerable pies. After being rejected for a PhD program, she constructed a blue “she shed” in her backyard. And it was in this rustic space – surrounded by 47 volumes of her journals – that she rekindled her love for music and dedicated herself to writing one song per week.

The result is A Thousand Tiny Torches. Produced by Shane Alexander, the project is propelled by the masterful playing of a sterling cast of players with credits from Lady Gaga to KT Tunstall to Lukas Nelson: Denny Weston Jr., drums; Carl Byron, keyboards; Darby Orr, bass; Jesse Siebenberg, steel guitar; and Mike Mullins on mandolin. Michael Gehring tracked the project at Secret World Studios in Los Angeles in the famous Sound City Studios complex, and GRAMMY-winners Brian Yaskulka and Hans DeKline mixed and mastered, respectively. A loyal group of supporters funded the recording through a Kickstarter campaign.

A consummate storyteller, Arielle’s narratives crosscut exacting details with universal themes. On the lead single “What Really Matters,” she recalls a harrowing season in Southern California as gunshots ricocheted through a country bar and the surrounding hills ignited with apocalyptic wildfires.

In contrast are incandescent songs with characters and conversations etched in fine lines and deep empathy. Vivid imagery glows with headlights, porch lights, lighthouses, bolts of lightning, fireflies, and stars that have been shining for ten billion years.

After launching her return with a holiday single, Arielle is now back onstage at house concerts and listening rooms, including the fabled Hotel Café in Hollywood. Plans are underway for West Coast tours and upcoming dates in Boston. This time, she says, she is doing it for the right reasons. “When I was younger I was performing,” she confirms. “Now, I’m connecting.”

Arielle Silver says that when she made her break with music, her ambition for everything stopped. “I couldn’t see the future. It was beautiful. I became so present in a way I never had been before, and the sense of being present lasted for a long time.” Now, in themes that speak to losing and rediscovering the path, emerges a musical alchemy of renewal and rebirth: A loving light that is reflected from A Thousand Tiny Torches.