LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Ari Hest Official Website) - U.S. Tour Expands; Regional Coverage Highlights Innovative,
Interactive New Album.
"If songwriting were an Olympic sport, Ari Hest's specialty would be the marathon"
Ari Hest's '52' Project Continues to Generate Winning Music: Week 36's 'Dead End Driving' is a Highlight
Ari Hest's ambitious '52' project, during which he is writing, recording, producing and releasing 52 songs in 52 weeks, is continuing to generate winning music, as evidenced by Week 36's "Dead End Driving". Hear this new song, as well as other streaming samples of '52' music, here: https://www.brickwallmgmt.com/arihest/
USA TODAY recently selected a track from '52' as one of its 'LISTEN UP Music Picks of the Week', calling 'The Weight' a "poignant, acoustic reverie."
Ari Hest is in the midst of his first extended U.S. tour in support of '52', and new, major market concert dates have just been confirmed, including NY, MA, PA, NJ, VA and more. A full itinerary follows, below. Regional press has been impressed with the innovative subscription program, with The Indianapolis Star praising: "If songwriting were an Olympic sport, Ari Hest's specialty would be the marathon."
Ari Hest's '52' project began this past January as an experiment, and has emerged as an artistic and entrepreneurial triumph. The diversity of Hest's songwriting, which has stretched the boundaries of his past work, has delivered him to a new terrain frequented by the likes of Marc Cohn, Aimee Mann, Patty Griffin and Damien Rice. In fact, under constant pressure to create, Hest has delivered a surprisingly strong body of music thus far, finding a home somewhere on the path where Elliot Smith meets Peter Gabriel.
Once '52' is complete, Hest will invite fans to choose their 12 favorite tracks...those songs will then be remastered and released as Ari Hest's next studio CD, in early '09.
Until then, Hest continues writing, touring and creating new music. In addition, he has composed the score for "DreamRiders," a documentary that will have its world premiere at the Sheffield Film Festival in England this November, and will air next Father's Day on the Discovery Channel.
Here's what regional journalists have said in conjunction with the initial dates on Ari Hest's U.S. Tour:
Indianapolis Star
By David Lindquist, 8/21/08
Indie songwriter Ari Hest aims to pen a new tune every week
https://www.indy.com/posts/10914
If songwriting were an Olympic sport, Ari Hest's specialty would be the marathon. The New York City musician is crafting one song per week this year, and he shares proof of his efforts each Monday at his Web site, www.arihest.com . In the midst of an experiment he calls "52," Hest releases a new tune every seven days. Listeners can purchase downloads of all 52 songs in packages that range from $20 to $75. Hest's entrepreneurial spirit will resonate in his local show tonight. Steve Ruemmele booked him to play a date in the Kessler House Concert Series, after seeing Hest perform earlier this summer at Birdy's nightclub. After three years as a major-label artist signed to Columbia Records, Hest returned to independent status in 2007.
"(At Columbia), everything needs to filter through a lot of different hands there before it gets sent off to the public," Hest says. "Now I just finish the song in my apartment and get it online. It's a lot simpler, and I'm the boss." While Hest hasn't played many shows at private residences, he says he's a fan of "listening room" atmospheres. Audience feedback is crucial to the "52" project. Through online voting, 12 of the tunes will be selected to be Hest's next studio album. Hest says he wrote about 25 songs in previous years. "I usually would be making some kind of an album of 10 or 12 songs," Hest says. "The rest I would just keep on my hard drive and not use. This year, I didn't really want to be in the position of holding things back."
Lagniappe (Mobile, Al)
By Stephen Centanni, 8/26/08
Interactive new album for Hest features innovation
https://www.lagniappemobile.com/article/1659
Most musicians want nothing more than to be signed to a major label. Singer/songwriter Ari Hest saw this dream come to fruition when he was signed to Columbia. However, he found sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for, and he parted ways with this industry big dog. Hest has since undertaken an extremely unique and grueling task called the '52 Project,' where he is writing one song a week for one year, and his fans (through an online subscription) are in charge of selecting the track-list of his next album. With the 52 Project more than halfway to completion, Hest is feeling the burn, but the overall success of this project so far has been motivating.
SC: You were signed to a couple of major labels, which seems to be the dream of every musical act. However, you parted ways with your label and went back to the indie side of things. What was about being signed that chased you off?
AH: The same thing that made me want to do this project, which is that I had a lot of material that I wasn't able to put out because I was with them because they do things in album cycles that are, at least for me, once every couple of years. I had a lot more music than that. That was one of the reasons I left. In general, I'm happier being my own boss and not having to have everything filtered through a big machine.
SC: What gave you the idea for the '52 Project?' Did you just have a bunch of material to get out?
AH: I do have a lot of songs every year that I write. I think the combination of that and my brother, who has been my manager throughout my whole career, came up with the idea for the subscription service. We just kinda put our heads together and decided to do something like this instead of putting out another album, which would have been fine, but this is more interesting.
SC: Coming up with a song a week could be a great challenge for most musicians. So far, what's the experience been like?
AH: Definitely a challenge. I started out thinking that I was a little ahead of the game; because I had a few songs written before I actually started back in January. I was kinda hoping to keep a case where I would not really run out of having that little cushion, but I ran out somewhere in the middle of this year. Naturally, things happen, and you go on tour, or just like every day things that happen to people and pop into your life have happen to me as well. I get lazy occasionally and don't want to work on the songs.
I've gotten where I'm literally writing and recording every week what I put out on Monday. That's a lot more challenging than what it was in the beginning, which was more taking ideas that I new I had already and flushing them out and putting them out at a little bit of an easier pace. It's not a challenge that I can't handle. It's just a little harder than it was before.
SC: How are you taking care of the studio side of things? Are you going once a week or doing it from home?
AH: I do everything from home. I have everything set up in my apartment. Most of the recording gear is in the bedroom where I sleep. I mix and master in my living room next to the television and studio monitors. So, that makes things a little easier instead having to travel around and do this.
SC: That's great. So, you're totally immersed in this project?
AH: Yeah (laughing)!
SC: I've read where this whole project is 'stretching the boundaries' of your past compositions. Can you elaborate on that for me?
AH: I think lyrically I'm coming out of my own head a little bit. I'm trying to write about other people and what they're going through and what I see from people that I know and people that I don't know. It makes for a little more variety of topics that I can write about. It makes things a little easier for me. I want each song to have a unique quality to it. That can't happen if you're writing about the same thing each time. I really tried to take in a lot of information from everybody else and bring them into my own songs and try to imagine myself in other people's shoes. So, that's the biggest change. I think also the focus of the music is more on my voice than it has ever been. There's less production to these songs. There's less color around my vocals. The voice is at the forefront of everything, and that's the way it should be.
SC: Well, you're at the halfway mark with this project. What's going through your mind at this point?
AH: Well, I don't know if I would do it again, but every week that I finish a song, I get excited that I got one more done, and I'm closer to the finish line. I think it's a manageable thing to do this. You really have to put the rest of your life on hold. I'm lucky that I don't have a family to feed or even a wife. I'm just doing this on my own, and I can have time for it. I look forward to finishing it out strong. Next year, we'll see what I decide to do. I don't think it's going to be this, but I may be something similar.
SC: From a business perspective, one thing that I find unique about this is that you are able to get a grasp of who your fans are and what they like. What have you learned about your fans?
AH: I think I'm learning that they have different things about me and my songwriting that they like. Some of them love my voice and want to hear my voice all the time. Other ones appreciate my songwriting more than anything. It's nice to see the variety of comments. Occasionally, somebody writes something bad about a song or that they wished that I had done something differently. Those are important comments as well, and I can learn from them, too. I just like the people who are taking part in it, and that was one of the goals of this project was to make sure that anybody who subscribes is involved in the process of critiquing these songs and then voting on their favorites in the end, so we can make an album next year. That's the way it works. So, I've enjoyed reading all the comments on the page.
SC: After the 52 weeks, what's going to be the final move? Will you go back into a full studio and re-record everything?
AH: I'm not going to do a whole lot of re-recording. I think more of it will be re-mastering. I will probably play a few things over. It kinda depends on the songs that are picked, and that's completely up to the fans. Once that's all set, I'll probably go into the studio for some drums on a couple of songs. For the most part, I can do everything here. Along the way, there are probably some takes of a bass track or a guitar track that I might have done a little hastily because I had to get it done by a certain time. So, I look forward to re-recording those, but I can still do that in my apartment.
SC: What are you going to do with all the songs that don't make the cut?
AH: Well, they're out. People can get them, and I'll play them live still. They're better in the position they are now than in the past few years when I was with Columbia. I had a lot of songs that never saw the light of day and never will. At this point, they're old to me, so I don't even want to put them out. At least these songs that I'm writing this year have a place to download on iTunes, and like I said, I'll be playing them live for sure.
Chattanooga Times Free-Press
Ari Hest promises musical Mondays for fans
By Casey Phillips, 9/5/08
With some artists, people have to wait years for the release of new material, but fans of pop singer/songwriter Ari Hest just need to hold out until Monday. Not this Monday - every Monday. Every week this year, subscribers to Hest's '52' program receive an e-mail with a download link to a song fresh from the mixer. So far, about 1,000 have paid $20 to sign up for the program, which released its 34th track, 'Long Road Ahead,' Aug. 25. The feedback for the program has been mostly positive, but even negative criticism is helpful, Hest said. 'If it was 100 percent positive, it would be a little strange,' he said. 'There has occasionally been a negative response to something when they didn't like the way I presented it or thought a lyric was no good. 'I like that they are expressing their opinion about what I'm doing, and I encourage them to say whatever they want to say, and I'll take it into consideration.' Thursday, Hest will join acoustic guitar virtuoso Monte Montgomery and up-and-coming Nashville-based indie artist k.s. Rhoads at Rhythm & Brews. Hest, who ended a three-year relationship with Columbia Records last fall, got his first taste for music from guitarists playing covers of bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam at his high school in New York. By 2001, his interest shifted to writing, and he began playing at campuses as a solo act, showcasing both covers and original work with a warm, rounded voice and a wide, expressive range. His early songs were hardly his best work, but they laid the groundwork for a prolific zeal for composition, he said. 'I had a handful of songs and wasn't particularly proud of them at the time, but I knew I needed to get better at it,' he said. 'Over the last few years, I feel like I've gone from an inexperienced, not-honed songwriter to more of where I want to be.' READ THE EXPANDED Q&A INTERVIEW HERE: https://fyi.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/sep/05/ari-hest-promises-musical-mondays-fans/
Asheville Citizen Times
Ari Hest takes on new project, releasing 52 songs in 52 weeks
By Jaime McKee September 11, 2008
A lot of artists tour when they aren't recording. But few take on the challenge of writing, recording, producing and releasing new songs every week, while they continue to tour. Singer-songwriter Ari Hest is doing just that as he continues his project of releasing 52 songs in 52 weeks through a subscription available on his Web site. The New York artist will be performing new and old songs at The Grey Eagle on Wednesday.
Unlikely start- Ari Hest got his start while in college and released an EP to family and friends. A friend released a song online, and Hest was contacted by a booking agent. He started out small, playing shows around his college, before moving back to New York City. Hest later found himself in a contract with Columbia Records and released two full-length albums on the label.
'52'- Hest finished with the record label in October and had a lot of material that his fans had not been exposed to. Realizing he had enough material, and not hearing of a similar project, Hest thought that providing the songs through a subscription could give him an edge over other independent artists. 'I just didn't want to make another album, and even if I did, it wasn't the right move.' The idea came about to release his material weekly, over a year, and allow people to purchase subscriptions for the songs. Listeners can get 52 songs over 52 weeks for as little as $20.
Obstacles- Hest started the year off with six or seven completed songs, and another ten ideas that needed lyrics. While some of the songs are inspired by personal experiences, many are inspired by friends, family and a lot of strangers. 'As I began, I was hoping to keep a surplus of songs as I went, so I wouldn't run into the situation I'm currently in: reaching a Monday or Tuesday and realizing I need to finish a full song and record it and put it out in five days,' said Hest. 'There are plenty of days I don't want to pick up the guitar, even though I love music. I'm not in a desperate spot right now, but I definitely have to work harder each week than I was at the beginning.'
Accidents happen- When asked for a favorite moment from recording, Hest said that the things that stuck out most were usually accidents. Recording in an apartment has its challenges, especially if the apartment isn't soundproof. 'Everything that's going on outside - trucks running by, people screaming, or talking - sometimes gets in there,' said Hest. 'Usually, it's very annoying, and I have to stop recording and start again. But, occasionally, there is something about the placement of that mistake or that accident that is perfect for the song.'
The show- Listeners can expect new and old songs at Wednesday's show. Just don't be surprised if Hest has to pull out a notebook with the lyrics. 'If I want to play a song from this year, that I remember writing but I kind of let it alone, I have to write it down before the show, or else I will forget it,' Hest said. 'And I have forgotten lyrics many times this year.'
What's next?- Look for a new album in 2009. The goal after the completion of a year's worth of songs is to have subscribers vote on what should be on the next record. 'There's something I think interesting about the fans deciding what songs are going to be on my record, and leaving it up to them,' said Hest. 'I'm going to do that next year, and whatever happens after that, I don't know. I will continue to write, and see what happens.'
Ari Hest's song 'The Weight' appeared last month as a USA TODAY 'LISTEN UP MUSIC PICK'. Hest's home-studio-recorded, indie track was in impressive company...other Picks included superstars Peter Gabriel, Louis Armstrong, Joan Osborne, Fleetwood Mac and Isaac Hayes, among others. USA TODAY writer Elysa Gardner praised: The Weight - Ari Hest 'One of 52 songs Hest is unveiling to subscribers via email on a weekly basis is this simple, poignant acoustic reverie.'
The Newark Star Ledger said that Hest impresses with "the simple eloquence of his songwriting." Cleveland Free Times noted: "Although he may be a few decades too late to be called a beatnik, with his rejection of a major label, long hair and songs about chasing miracles, Hest would make Kerouac proud." Las Vegas Review Journal observed: "He's an established musician with a pair of major label albums under his belt, looking for a new business model that takes advantage of the current state of the music industry, where home recording technology and the Internet are enabling artists and consumers to wrest the power away from the major labels."
ARI HEST ON TOUR
9/17/08 Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle with k.s. Rhoads
9/18/08 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 with k.s. Rhoads
9/19/08 Raleigh, NC - The Pour House with k.s. Rhoads
9/20/08 Greenwood, SC - Music On Maxwell with k.s. Rhoads
9/21/08 Mt Pleasant, SC - Village Tavern with k.s. Rhoads
9/22/08 Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbits with k.s. Rhoads
9/26-28/08 Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada - Deep Roots Music Festival
10/28/08 Norfolk, VA - The Boot with Julian Velard and Marianne Keith
10/29/08 Philadelphia, PA- World Cafe Live with Julian Velard and Marianne Keith
11/1/08 Annapolis, MD - Ram's Head with Julian Velard and Marianne Keith
11/4/08 Syracuse, NY- Funk N Waffles with Julian Velard and Marianne Keith
11/6/08 New York, NY- Le Poisson Rouge with Julian Velard and Marianne Keith
11/7/08 Teaneck, NJ -Mexicali Live with Julian Velard and Marianne Keith
11/8/08 Boston, MA- Cafe 939 at Berklee with Julian Velard and Marianne Keith
11/9/08 Northampton, MA- The Basement with Julian Velard and Marianne Keith
11/20/08 Vienna, VA - The Barns at Wolftrap with Luke Brindley
ADDITIONAL TOUR DATES HAVE JUST BEEN ANNOUNCED, INCLUDING WEST COAST SHOWS.
SEE THE UPDATED SCHEDULE HERE: https://www.arihest.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=113
Visit https://www.arihest.com/
https://www.brickwallmgmt.com/arihest/
