Ari Hest

House concert in Shrewsbury, MA

March 30, 2019

Sometimes I simply trust the concert promoter. In this case, this concert series is hosted by Monica Mansfield, producer of Mostly Rock ‘n Roll – here’s a link to a 2017 episode featuring Ari Hest – so I reserved my spot at this show without even listening to any of Ari Hest’s music beforehand. I also didn’t look into Ari’s background before attending the show, discovering on-site that he was nominated for a Best Folk Album Grammy in 2017 for his collaboration with Judy Collins, Silver Skies Blue.

As is so often the case in this particular concert series, tonight’s concert once again featured a memorable vocalist. Ari has a booming, rich voice with a little gravelly rasp and a sort of nasal echo that adds relatability, emotion, and poignance to his songs. I often found myself thinking of Ari’s sound as a modern, updated version of some of the full-voice, warm feeling-inducing maintstream, crossover folk singers of the seventies, people like Jim Croce, though there’s no historical exact match to Ari’s original sound.

Ari opened his first set with a couple personal songs among his initial trio – “Good to Be Back,” about family, and “Sato,” about his dog George Harrison.

Next up, “Willing to Try” was a ’70s-style, singer-songwriter pop song that rides a bit of a groove. “Still Crazy After All These Years” was a fitting cover. And I really liked the way “One Two” built to power, with its catchy, energetic vibe.

“Set in Stone” was a melancholy, emotional number with a kind of “traveling song” rhythm. And “Balcony” – a song from Bluebirds of Paradise, the duo in which Ari performs with his talented wife Chrissi Poland – was slow, mellow, and soulful. And it had some Brazilian guitar influence, which Ari pointed out and I, you know, then heard and was able to identify so specifically because he told us what we were listening to.

Ari then stepped up the tempo with “I’ll Be There,” a cheerful little ditty about an ex; the key lyric herein is “I’ll be there to make you miserable.” And he closed the first set with the uplifting “Bona Fide,” a song about his neice.

Ari opened his second set with an audience Q&A. Early in the set I heard a bit of a jangly Dirty Guv’nahs-esque vibe. Second-set standouts included a haunted, rolling number called “The Weight”; “All Because,” with its build to very insistent vocals and prominent use of gravelly lyrics; Bluebirds of Paradise song “Forever More,” with its cool, jazzy vibe; and rich, cheerful mid-tempo ditty “Cranberry Lake.”

Ari closed the evening with “Make It Up,” a tune with a bit of a funky rhythm, and the softly emotional and powerful “Concrete Sky.”

Though I allowed the evening to be a surprise, the result wasn’t really much of a surprise. It was a great evening featuring an exceptionally talented artist with a very special voice. And now I know to look forward to the next time I get to hear Ari perform.

Looking Ahead

Per the “Tour” page of Ari Hest’s website, he’ll be performing at Davidson College in Davidson, NC on May 4th. He also has May and June dates scheduled that will take him to New York, Maine, Michigan, and Virginia, plus more dates in North Carolina and Massachusetts. If you’re in any of those states, you should click through to see if you can catch him in your area.

And this house concert series continues on May 4th, with a concert by Pushing Chain.