A THOUSAND TINY TORCHES got a boost as tastemaker DJ Marc “Mookie” Maczor featured her singles on KCSN 88.5FM in Los Angeles. Songs from more than half the album have been recognized in various songwriting competitions, including the International Songwriting Competition (ISC), Great American Song Contest, and Music City Song Star, and featured on NPR’s Up Close And Acoustic, selected as a Favorite Album of the year at Americana Highways, and enthusiastically reviewed in American Songwriter, Guitar Girl, and more. In 2020, Music Connection named Arielle in their Hot Unsigned Artists / Top Prospects, writing “Arielle Silver is a born communicator, an artist whose structured songwriting exudes intelligence and humanity. And the best part is, she’s also got a knack for catchy pop hooks and fun arrangements.”
Arielle’s return to music is a testament to her renewal of inspiration, the rekindling of dreams, and the redemptive power and connective compassion that defines her artistry. 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.
The follow-up single, “Headlights,” is an uplifting mandolin-filled reminder that even when the road is dark and twisting, you can follow the beam of light all the way home. In contrast are incandescent songs with characters and conversations etched in fine lines and deep empathy. Vivid imagery glows with porch lights, lighthouses, bolts of lightning, fireflies, and stars that have been shining for ten billion years.
Produced by Shane Alexander, A THOUSAND TINY TORCHES 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.
After launching a holiday single in 2019, Arielle returned to performing at house concerts and listening rooms around her adopted Los Angeles home, including the fabled Hotel Café in Hollywood. Through the pandemic, she livestreamed from her shed and launched Tomes & Tunes, a weekly podcast where she talks about books and swaps songs with songwriters from around the world.
Arielle Silver says that when she made her break with music a decade ago, her ambition for everything stopped. “I couldn’t see the future anymore, and… it was beautiful. I became so present in a way I never had been before, and that sense 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.
American Songwriter described her music as “An urgent commanding vocal that melds KT Tunstall with Florence and the Machine.” Charlie Silvestri of the NPR podcast Up Close And Acoustic writes, “You Were Light should be heard by everyone, should be on every radio station and playlist. I’m serious. I love it.”
Arielle has shared live and virtual stages with America, Wendy Waldman, St. Vincent, Elizabeth & The Catapult, Rebecca Loebe, and more.
She is an official artist for Shubb Capos and Guild Guitars, writes for Roland Articles, and serves on the board of the Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West) branch of Folk Alliance International.
Also a literary writer and holistic yoga teacher, Arielle is co-founder of Bhavana Flow Yoga and teaches in the Undergraduate Arts and Creative Writing departments at Antioch University Los Angeles.