Lighting the Way ARIELLE SILVER IS ALL ABOUT SECOND CHANCES BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI
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rielle Silver had a successful music career when she just up and quit 10 years ago. After years of regional tours, and then a six-month national tour with her trio in support of her third album, she put away her guitar, moved to Los Angeles and landed a behind-the-scenes job in the music business. After hours, she studied and taught yoga philosophy, won awards for her literary writing, got divorced, got married and performed at SoCal world music festivals as a background singer and instrumentalist. But her own music came calling. “The reason I quit and came back both came from a really deep place inside me,â€? Silver says. “When I stopped playing I couldn’t do it anymore. I had done it my whole life. It was the life force for me. It was just something I needed to do and loved to do until I didn’t.â€? One day she woke up from a “crazy dreamâ€? and it inspired her to do something she never considered. “It compelled me to go in the backyard and clear a space,â€? she says. “I didn’t know I was going to build a shed in which to write songs. I just suddenly felt I needed to clean the backyard and get back to something elemental, I guess.â€? As soon as she built the shed—six weeks later—she started writing songs again. “I was feeling my gut instinct,â€? she says. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.â€? Despite 10 years off, when Silver launched a spring 2019 crowd-funding campaign, she raised over $26,000 to record a new indie folk Americana album, “A Thousand Tiny Torches.â€? The title comes from a lyric on the album. 7KH VRQJV²DERXW ÂżUHĂ€LHV ZLOGÂżUHV DQG VKLQLQJ D OLJKW LQWR WKH GDUNQHVV²DUH slated for release in July. Produced by Shane Alexander, the project was recorded by Michael Gehring at Secret World Studios in the legendary Sound City complex in Los Angeles. It’s being mixed by Grammy winner Brian Yaskulka (Lisa Loeb) and mastered by Grammy winner Hans DeKline (U2). The album features drummer Denny Weston Jr. (KT Tunstall), keyboardist Carl Byron (Rita Coolidge), bassist Darby Orr (Naked to the World), steel guitarist Jesse Siebenberg (Lady Gaga, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real) and mandolinist Mike Mullins (David Grisman). 7KH ÂżUVW VLQJOH LV Âł:KDW 5HDOO\ 0DWWHUV ´ ZKLFK KLW VWUHDPLQJ VHUYLFHV RQ )HEruary 28. The song was inspired by the November 2018 shootings at the Borderline %DU LQ 7KRXVDQG 2DNV DQG WKH :RROVH\ DQG +LOO ÂżUHV 7KH HYHQWV PDGH KHU WKLQN about what really matters most. “‘What Really Matters’ emerged from my process of challenging myself to write a song a week,â€? Silver adds. Âł$OO RI &DOLIRUQLD ORRNHG OLNH LW ZDV RQ ÂżUH $ ORW RI SHRSOH ORVW WKHLU KRPHV Thousands were evacuated. The sky was dark and ashy. That week, I wrote two 34 | ARROYO | 04.20
songs. One was ‘What Really Matters.’ We have our personal tragedies in our lives and then there are these cultural tragedies or local tragedies that are public. It’s terrible.â€? The second single, “Headlights,â€? is due out this month. 6LOYHUÂśV VRQJV KDYH EHHQ OLFHQVHG LQWHUQDWLRQDOO\ IRU ÂżOP 79 6KH KDV SHUformed at venues around the country, including Club Passim, 12th and Porter, and Eddie’s Attic, with many of her favorite songwriters, including America, Elizabeth WKH &DWDSXOW .ULV 'HOPKRUVW 6W 9LQFHQW -D\ 1DVK 5HEHFFD /RHEH DQG &KULV Pierce. Also an essayist and poet, Silver’s literary work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets, and has appeared in Matador Review, MoPHQW /LOLWK 0DJD]LQH 8QGHU 7KH *XP 7UHH %UHYLW\ DQG -HW )XHO 5HYLHZ She is slated to perform at Lyd and Mo Photography studio on May 29. “Pasadena has a lot of awesome little pockets of places supporting songwriters,â€? the Boston native says. “I played there a few times, like the Blue Guitar on the Arroyo Golf Course.â€? 6LOYHU VD\V VKH FDQÂśW ZDLW XQWLO WKH &29,' FULVLV LV RYHU VR VKH FDQ KLW WKH road again. “I want to head back east to Boston to play a few shows in July,â€? she says. “I just restarted my career, but I’m simultaneously making long-term and mid-term plans. I’m building the house as I’m living in it. “I’m just enjoying living in California. There are so many great songwriters here. It’s been fun digging into person by person learning about new venues, acoustic music listening rooms, and events happening in wineries and hotel lobbies. It’s GLIIHUHQW WKDQ ZKDW , H[SHULHQFHG LQ WKH ÂżUVW JR DW WKLV FDUHHU ´
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