Gothic Theatre
Ari Hest
As the miles roll by the driver’s side window of singer/songwriter Ari Hest, he’s learned that touring is part art, part marathon. “After playing a Saturday night show at Georgia College in Milledgeville, GA, talking to the students well into the night, and then sleeping a few hours in a dorm room, I had a cab show up early to take me to the airport to get to my next show later that day,” recounts the 24-year-old New York City native. “The driver rolled down his window, said he had gotten no sleep the night before because he was in a band, and could I drive his cab to the airport while he slept in the back seat?”
Taking the wheel, Hest did what he’s been doing for the last two years, getting himself to the next place he wants to be. Since the Fall of 2001, he’s played more than 400 shows at clubs and campuses across the U.S., written a strong collection of new songs, graduated from NYU in Manhattan, recorded his third LP, entitled Story After Story, and racked up a long list of parking tickets and moving violations with New York’s finest and various out of state law enforcement.
Armed with a warm, gravelly voice reminiscent of Peter Gabriel and a soaring falsetto that brings to mind Jeff Buckley, Ari has gone from being a college student playing out his hobby for other students, to being a career musician. “All the performing and touring fits me,” concludes Hest. “I want to sing and play for people every night. I’ve gotten to welcome nights where I’m challenged to work extra hard to win over an audience.” Music runs strong in the blood of Ari’s family: his father is a college music professor and his mother is a professional singer. Dad had his son singing on jingles at the tender age of seven, but it wasn’t until the later days of high school that Ari began to use music as his refuge. “There was a place on our campus that no one would go, except a few us of with guitars,” he recalls. “I wasn’t into the cliques at my school so I escaped there to learn Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam songs.” Further inspired by playing cover songs by Dave Matthews and Jeff Buckley, Ari started playing for school functions and graduated from Horace Mann High School in the Bronx with a new life direction.
In 1999, Hest recorded his first LP, Incomplete, during his sophomore year of college over a weekend in Ithaca, NY, for $1,000. Ari completed his sophomore album, Come Home, in the summer of 2001. After a year of consistent road-work and further composing, he again found himself yearning to make his third collection this past summer.
During his first visit to Los Angeles in June, Ari spent time collaborating with a variety of songwriters and producers who were impressed with the performing skills and new songs he displayed at his California debut at The Mint. During his stay on the West Coast, Hest wrote “Strangers Again” with Marvin Etzioni (bass player of Lone Justice). He also hooked up with producer/music director David Rolfe (Burlap to Cashmere, Rufus Wainwright, Patty Griffin) and forged a strong bond as they wrote “Fascinate You” while hanging at Rolfe’s Hollywood production room and at a Dodgers’ game.
Ari chose Rolfe to help him take his recorded sound to heightened places and Story After Story was off to an inspired start in Hest’s hometown in August of this year. Veteran studio stars like drummer Shawn Pelton and keyboardist Doug Petty joined Ari to round out the lineup. Recorded in several weeks in late August and mixed in September, Ari and company were able to realize a new depth of sound and emotion with songs like “They’re On To Me,” “Monsters,” “The Upper Hand” and the show stopping “Didn’t Want to Say Goodbye.” Rolfe was impressed by his partner’s relentless work ethic and blooming skill. “When you hear Ari sing, you have to stop and listen. He has that rare, intangible quality that elevates an artist above mere talent and craft. It’s an honesty you recognize the moment you hear it.”
Having shared the stage with Guster, O.A.R., Maroon 5, and Jason Mraz this year, Hest is currently touring colleges and clubs throughout the country. His loyal and active street team, the “A-Team”, has swollen to more than 1,000 members to promote concerts, help sell CDs and spread Ari’s music. The New York City cops seem to have eased off monitoring his every vehicular turn. It can only be a matter of time before they start asking for tickets.
