We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Arielle Eden a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Arielle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

All of the music I release is very meaningful to me in different ways. My most recent single called “Start Again”, written with Emma Barge, is particularly meaningful because endings and beginnings are such a universal experience, and I feel that it’s been a song of encouragement for me. My hope is that others will also experience it to be encouraging and even healing.

After we wrote the song, my co-writer, Emma, who also co-produced the song sent me a basic work tape of the song. At the time, I was experiencing some difficult transitions in my life, and I found myself listening to the song on a loop at night to help me fall asleep. I think this was a sign to me that there was something very comforting about it, Sometimes as a songwriter, it’s hard to decide which songs to release. Knowing that this one was so helpful to my own process, I really wanted others to be able to get that same feeling of comfort from listening to it, so I knew that I needed to release it.

Arielle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a singer-songwriter, and I write songs for my own projects and also enjoy working with other artists and writers, writing songs for theirs. I enjoy performing my songs at shows and songwriter rounds. Being able to touch and impact people through music is an amazing thing. I also work as a psychologist, and feel that my songwriting is very much informed by my understanding of emotional experiences and interpersonal interactions and relationships. I’ve been told that one strength I have is being able to express difficult experiences in an uplifting or fun way.
I’ve been writing songs for as long as I can remember. I’ve gone through different periods of writing and performing more and less, as a result of where I was in my life at the time. During the pandemic, I started taking virtual songwriting workshops through Nashville Songwriters Association International, ASCAP, and other Nashville based programs and started making regular trips to Nashville. I wanted to be present to continue collaborating with the amazing folks that I had met, and to continue meeting and being inspired by others doing the same thing in the most amazing songwriting community that is Nashville.
As a result of these collaborations, I released my first EP last year called “Signs and Signals” and I just released a new single called “Start Again”. I feel really grateful for the connections and collaborations and the resulting projects that have grown out of my Nashville community.

As an artist and writer I hope that my music can make people feel less alone in their experiences and bring insight, comfort, and joy among other things. As a songwriter I aim to help other artists say what is most meaningful to them, in a way that is unique to them and their style.

I like to think of putting music out into the world as a way of beautifying it and having an impact. My aim is to continue doing this in a way that is relatable and meaningful.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think I’m always trying to unlearn my own limiting beliefs about what is possible. Whether it’s thinking that I can’t be successful as an artist because I’m a mom, or because I’m not the “right” age, or if I don’t have x number of streams or followers. Those are thoughts that make success contingent only on external measures and dismiss the internal measures of satisfaction and meaning. They are also beliefs that are based on black and white arbitrary rules that only result in feeling discouraged. Of course as artists and songwriters we want our music to be heard, appreciated, and enjoyed by others. I have to remind myself that sometimes the measures that seem most significant don’t even match up with the initial reason we decided to pursue art in the first place. So I have to remember not to lose sight of my “why”, and to not be discouraged by limiting beliefs that are for the most part arbitrary. And also to be clear about what success means to me rather than relying on quantifiable measures created by others, simply because I lack my own clarity. It can be a tricky balance between what do I define as successful and how to do others perceive success.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I don’t necessarily have a mission or goal that I am trying to convey through the content of my music. But as mentioned in the question above, I want to be an example of someone rising above her own limiting beliefs to continue doing what I love and what is meaningful to me, and I’d love it if by doing that I can somehow help others rise above their own limiting beliefs in order to live their dreams. I talk a lot about manifesting reality and I belief that our mindset really can impact our realities. I try to practice this and share my experiences of that with others. In my own life I want to seize the day, and want others to feel inspired to do the same.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thearielleeden/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thearielleeden/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfVLhqC4XBZXJf75u5s2KuA

Image Credits
Jeff Mondlock of Mondlock Moments Media “Start Again” Artwork by Ian Branch Designs photo used in artwork: Victoria Nelson