PERFORMING WITH ALL-STAR BAND AND JOINED BY OPENING ARTISTS ALICE HOWE & FREEBO
"Lovely songwriting" - The Boston Globe
“...superb stage presence and is so confident and strong on stage, the audience just eats it up” - Music Connection
“We’ve all been in situations where the plans we made were never brought to fruition — and Arielle asks us to think of those memories on her thoughtfully delivered song of breakups and ghost ships passing in the night.” - Americana Highways on “Ghost Ships”
“Ghost Ships‘ is an airy folk song from Arielle Silver’s new album ‘Watershed‘, it floats – naturally enough – on the waters of recollection and consolation as Arielle Silver reflects on things that happened and the dreams that never came to be me” - Americana UK on “Ghost Ships”
“An urgent and commanding vocal” - American Songwriter
Watershed Record Release Party - BUY TICKETS
LOS ANGELES, CA - On October 6th LA based folk-pop artist Arielle Silver will be releasing her forthcoming fifth album Watershed, and will be performing the album with her full band at the Hotel Cafe’s Main Stage in Hollywood, CA the same night. A ten-song offering that traverses the valleys of American roots music, Watershed showcases Silver’s stunning approach to songwriting and storytelling, and the rich imagery, empathy, and insight she imbues in her creative work. Conceived in the quiet of the pandemic quarantine, Watershed takes its title as much from that watershed moment in time as it does from the North American spaces where the story-songs take place. Renewing and reflective, water runs through many of the songs as crosscurrents that connect ideas to experiences, and people to places.
Silver’s band is rounded out by a group of accomplished musicians and performers, including the album’s producer Shane Alexander, Darby Orr (Gary Myrick, David Newman), Carl Byron (Michelle Shocked, Rita Coolidge, Hot Club of Los Angeles), Kevin Stevens (Michael Stipe, Natasha Bedingfield, Shakira), and guest cellist Rob Hodges. With special guests Alice Howe & Freebo, the Watershed release party will kick off on the Main Stage at 6:30pm.
“I approach my live shows the way that I approach writing on the page,” says Silver when asked about how she prepares for her performances. “When I'm performing, I think about the spaces between the songs as similar to the whitespace on the page, and think about what the purpose of that space is. I try to create an arc for the show not only energetically, but also from a narrative standpoint. How do these songs fit together? How does the story relate to the performance as a whole?”
This consideration also carries Silver through the songwriting process to gorgeous results: fully realized songs that waste no space in delivering moving messages to listeners, while recalling past experiences and relationships, or settings that shape these narrative-based stories and emotional musings. In all, Silver crafts moving pieces that capture the heart and soul of the human condition.
Early Watershed singles “Bramble Vine,” “Ghost Ships,” and “Rickie Lee” have earned praise and support from numerous outlets and publications including Americana Highways, Twangville, Americana UK and more, with “Ghost Ships” finding approval from one of the song’s inspirations, writer Cheryl Strayed. A literary mind who cites inspiration in writers like Strayed, Jane Austen, Jeanette Winterson, and Mary Oliver (to name a few), Silver's lyrics read like moving self-contained stories, and are further elevated by her striking instrumental and vocal performances. When writing, Silver asks herself “what is the mission for this song in the world? If I’m going to spend time creating a song, and people are going to listen, why is it worth their while? Where’s the real treasure in this song?”
Creative writing adjunct faculty at Antioch University and the founder of Bhavana Flow Yoga studio, Silver’s writing and songwriting pulls inspiration from her childhood and surroundings, from engaging character-based narratives, and a deep sense of spirituality. Growing up with the music of Paul Simon, Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and John Denver has led Silver through troubadour traditions across the valleys of the great American music genres.e. She finds equal inspiration in the sounds and storied histories of Laurel Canyon and Greenwich Village.
Silver serves as the President of FAR-West (Folk Alliance Region West), where she fosters and promotes the work of artists, songwriters, and more across traditional, contemporary, and multicultural folk music, storytelling, and performing arts. She additionally serves as a key team member for the SONA Foundation, a charitable organization that supports songwriters and music creators through resources, programs, and grants for career development, mental health, and financial wellness.
Born on Florida’s Gulf Coast and raised along the Atlantic seaboard, Arielle now lives just a traffic jam away from the Pacific Ocean in her adopted home of Los Angeles. Memories of places and times serve as touchstones through her songs, as does the troubadour music traditions that she heard from her guitar-strumming architect father. Throughout her music and storytelling runs an ethic of care, along with an essential wellspring of interpersonal relationships and ecological notice.
In addition to her record release show in Los Angeles, Silver will be hitting the road this fall for her East Coast tour.
Photo by Anabel DFlux