WYEP Music Blog

Imagine writing, recording, producing and releasing one new song per week for 52 weeks in a row. In 2008, singer-songwriter Ari Hest did just that. On March 10, 2009 Hest self-released the studio CD, “Twelve Mondays”, containing reworked versions of the 12 fan-selected songs from the ’52’ project.

The independence and freedom has served Hest well. I learned of the ambitious project after the fact and heard the songs on “Twelve Mondays” before downloading all the Songs from 52: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Each season contains 13 songs. From the ‘52’; 4 from Winter, 3 from Spring and Autumn and 2 from Summer made the final cut.

The first track on “Twelve Mondays” is also the first track on “Winter.” “One Two” is a deeply textured song that just sticks in your head. The first song of the ‘52’ is one of the best for the whole year. Another stand out is “Dead End Driving”, which was on “Summer”. It’s another catchy song that I keep listening to over and over again.  From “Autumn” is “Cranberry Lake” which teams up Hest with Amy Kuney in a simple duet (he attempted to sing Kuney’s part at his Club Café show). “Spring” contributed the fun sounds of “Binoculars” and “Ride the Brake”.  Other songs that deserve more than a casual listen include the tongue & cheek “I’ll Be There”, the rhythmic “The Weight”, the layering on “Broken Voices” and the catchy “Morning Streets” along with the final track “Reason to Believe” rounding out the CD, like it starts, with one of those songs that just sticks in your head.

You can’t just comment on the final product of “Twelve Mondays” without acknowledging the pool of ‘52’. I did not hear the songs as they came out each week in 2008; instead I listened to them in order over a 5-day period. I feel there is not a weak song in the bunch. Certainly some songs sounded like demos. Some started abruptly or just ended with no warning. There was one instrumental. Many songs had multiple instruments and sounds. Guitar, piano, percussion and harmonies. You could at least hear the potential of what Hest was attempting to do with a particular song. I was impressed by actually how polished many of the songs were.

The quality and integrity of Ari Hest’s music is evident. In one review, Hest was compared to John Mayer, Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews. I don’t think those comparisons do justice to the depth of the songs Hest has produced over his young career (Hest will be 30 in June). To me, Ari Hest sounds like … well, Ari Hest. He is unique. Maybe in the future other artists will be likened to … Ari Hest.

On 2006’s “The Green Room Sessions EP”, Hest covers Fleetwood Mac’s “Little Lies”. It’s hard to believe it’s one person singing that song, but Hest pulls it off brilliantly.

Ari Hest has recorded almost the equivalent of a whole career worth of music in one year. What an incredible accomplishment! Well done, well done! To date, “Twelve Mondays” is my favorite CD of 2009!

www.arihest.com

Barb S. – Sunday Mix Host

ELVIS COSTELLO’S NEW ALBUM ‘SECRET, PROFANE & SUGARCANE’ will be out on JUNE 2nd. The recording is Produced by T BONE BURNETT in Nashville.

Joining Costello were Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Mike Compton, Jeff Taylor, and Dennis Crouch. These guys are some of the most highly regarded recording artists and musicians in traditional American country music, Bluegrass and beyond.

The album includes ten previously unrecorded songs. “Sulphur to Sugarcane” and “The Crooked Line”, were co-written with T Bone Burnett while, “I Felt The Chill” marks Costello’s second recorded songwriting collaboration with Loretta Lynn.

I’m fairly certain that is the same group of musicians that helped create ‘Raising Sand’ with Plant & Krauss. Looking forward to this release !

I discovered singer-songwriter Ari Hest on the 2008 Cayamo cruise.  I only had the chance to see him briefly then, but he made an immediate impression on me.  At Club Cafe, 29-year old Hest was the early show.  He was backed by Ron Calder on bass, Thad Debrock on guitar and Doug Yowell on drums.  The band also co-produced Hest’s latest release “Twelve Mondays”, from which he performed many tracks.  The concept, as Hest explained it, was that he wrote and shared on his website 52 songs in 2008.  He wrote a song a week and the 12 best, voted by the fans, made it on to this CD.  All sounded like winners to me.  Hest is quite tall, and seems comfortable on stage.  Even though I wasn’t familiar with most of the songs, after 1 hour and 15 minutes, I didn’t want the show to end.  I wanted to hear all 52 songs and then some.  The music and performer were engaging.  www.arihest.com

Tim Brantley opened the show with about a 35-minute set.  He’s a singer-songwriter out of Atlanta who plays the guitar and keyboards.  He seemed like he would be more comfortable with a backing band.  He has a great voice and is very personable, making a lot of eye contact with the audience.  Brantley is releasing his first CD next month “Goldtop Heights” http://www.myspace.com/timbrantley

P.S.:  I’m going to attempt to do my first CD review.  Actually my first five, as I’ve been listening to Ari Hest’s Songs from 52:  Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn and the CD “Twelve Mondays” released on 03.10.09, which is a ‘best of’ the 52 songs.  Review is here: http://musicblog.wyep.org/2009/03/27/%e2%80%9ctwelve-mondays%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-a-cd-review/

Barb S. – Sunday Mix Host

We’ve heard from many WYEP listeners so far, but the deadline is fast approaching for you to enter your favorite 20 songs. This listener generated list will be counted down in May, don’t miss your chance to have your selections counted. The dealine for voting is Friday, April 10th.

http://www.wyep.org/events/contests/index.php?id=51

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