NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Performing Songwriter Magazine) - Ari Hest Drives Trailblazing Career with 'Twelve Mondays' CD, set for March 10th Release
Performing Songwriter Magazine Praises Hest for 'Challenging the Industry At Large'
Many singer-songwriters toil for months on their Macs, trying to make a demo that sounds polished enough to score them a record deal with a major label.
But Ari Hest has done the exact opposite, as he continues to defy the conventional route of a musician. Already signed to a major, he opted out of his label deal so that he could have more control over his art. He then embarked on his ambitious '52' project, during which he spent all of last year immersed in an unprecedented effort - to write, record, produce and release one new song per week, for 52 weeks in a row. Now, he will self-release his new studio CD, 'Twelve Mondays,' on March 10th. The album features re-worked versions of 12 fan-selected songs, culled from the past year's extraordinary output.
It's a renegade path that reveals the 'New Music Industry' at its best, and allows Hest's impressive work to find the audience he wants it to find.
'Twelve Mondays' showcases the diversity of Hest's songwriting - from the haunting, mini-masterpiece 'Broken Voices' to the USA TODAY 'Listen Up Music Pick' 'The Weight,' which was praised as a "poignant, acoustic reverie..." - From the wistful travelogue 'Ride The Brake' to the radio-friendly 'Dead End Driving,' it's a remarkable mix that's distinguished by the intelligence, nuance and range of Hest's material. Add to that the fact that these songs were written amid the week-to-week gauntlet of '52', and it's all the more impressive.
In fact, PERFORMING SONGWRITER Magazine characterized '52' as 'a daunting, almost impossible task,' as they profiled Ari Hest in their Year-End special on Independent Artists who have taken creative control over their careers. See the full feature, below.
Performing Songwriter Editors have also selected songs from '52' as among their BEST RELEASES OF 2008, praising: 'Ari Hest achieved the extraordinary in 2008 by writing a song every week that listeners could download from his website. The best part: His songs are high-caliber and deeply heartfelt."
On 'Twelve Mondays', Ari Hest finally has the luxury to re-visit the fans' favorite tracks, and re-work, re-sing and/or re-mix them in the form of a studio album that captures a more defined sound. Regardless, his ambitious '52' project was an artistic and entrepreneurial triumph, stretching the boundaries of his past work, and delivering him to a new terrain frequented by the likes of Patty Griffin, Marc Cohn, Aimee Mann and Damien Rice. In fact, under constant pressure to create, Hest delivered a surprisingly strong body of music, finding a home somewhere on the path where Elliot Smith meets Peter Gabriel.
Track listing for 'Twelve Mondays' is as follows:
1 - One Two
2 - I'll Be There
3 - Dead End Driving
4 - The Weight
5 - Broken Voices
6 - Mercy
7 - Cranberry Lake
8 - Binoculars
9 - Morning Streets
10 - Learn
11 - Ride The Brake
12 - Reason To Believe
Hest will soon be featured in Acoustic Guitar Magazine and Performer Magazine. Billboard, Blender and major dailies and alternative weeklies nationwide praised him this past year, as his '52' project and tour unfolded.
A nationwide tour will coincide with the release of 'Twelve Mondays'. The first leg of dates, many of which will feature opener Tim Brantley, follows below. More concerts will be announced soon.
Mar-12-09 Boston, MA Cafe 939 Berklee
Mar-13-09 New York, NY Joe's Pub
Mar-14-09 New York, NY Joe's Pub
Mar-15-09 Philadelphia, PA Tin Angel
Mar-17-09 Pittsburgh, PA Club Cafe
Mar-18-09 Cleveland, OH HOB - Cambridge Room
Mar-19-09 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
Mar-21-09 Chicago, IL Schuba's - early & late shows
Mar-22-09 Danville, IL Gino's Place (day)
Mar-22-09 Indianapolis, IN Kessler House Concert Series (night)
Mar-24-09 Knoxville, TN Preservation Pub
Mar-25-09 Chattanooga, TN Rhythm & Brews
Mar-26-09 Nashville, TN Douglas Corner
Mar-27-09 Decatur, GA Eddie's Attic
Mar-28-09 Charlotte, NC Evening Muse
Mar-29-09 Athens, GA Melting Pot
Mar-30-09 Ninety Six, SC Abbeville County Career Center
PERFORMING SONGWRITER MAGAZINE, 12/08
52 Weeks, 52 New Songs - ARI HEST
There's nothing like a few rocky years of being jerked around by a major label to make an artist realize what a gift it is to have creative control over one's own music. Ari Hest discovered this firsthand and celebrated his newfound artistic independence in 2008 by launching a project he calls 52. '52 was a natural outgrowth of a few turbulent years with Columbia [Records],' muses the NYC-based Hest. 'They took an independent album I had done [a few years earlier] and remixed it for a 'major label' debut. Naturally, I had outgrown these old songs; they were just a tough place to [return to], mentally.' Hest wanted to create the opposite experience with fresh tunes made immediately available.
And he's done just that.
52 started in January 2008 and will end the last week of December. Each week, Hest writes, records, mixes and releases a new song on his website, arihest.com. Visitors could buy a subscription to get the songs on a weekly basis, or purchase individual MP3s via the site's store. At the end of the 52 weeks, members will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite songs, and Hest's next studio album will be a compilation of the winners. All subscribers to the site are given a username and password to access the members' menu. From there one can download each song as a standard-quality MP3 (128 kbps), high-quality MP3 (320 kbps) or a lossless FLAC file (subscriber's choice). All songs remain accessible in the archives on the website, so there are no worries about joining late and missing downloads. There are three levels of 52 membership: basic ($20), preferred ($35) and premium ($75). Basic gets you the music and blog, lyric and voting poll access. Preferred provides those same privileges plus bonus tracks and an autographed, limited-edition AH poster. Premium member- ship gets you the basics plus a sticker, a 52 T-shirt, behind-the-scenes video footage, an autographed, voter-determined studio CD (upon release) and a ticket to a Hest show. There's also an option to give a gift membership, and his songs are available on iTunes, as well.
From the typical industry view, it would appear a daunting, almost impossible task to write and release songs at such a pace without losing musical or lyrical quality in the process. One may think song No. 52 could never live up to song No. 1, but Hest disagrees. 'I'll be trying harder by the last song, I'm sure; I don't make excuses,' he says. 'I plan as much as I can and take the project seriously. [But] I'm lucky I don't yet have a family to feed.' So was the project successful? With low overhead costs on his side, Hest has already sold over 1,000 memberships and has 'grossed more this year than ever before. This was definitely the right move.'
