MAGIC BUS

Arielle takes a sonic tour of the classic rock era with songs and guitar tones inspired by the spirit of ’73.

- MARK MCSTEA

ARIELLE HAS NEVER made a secret of her love for all things retro. Since being discovered in 2010 by Nuno Bettencourt, she's found herself opening for – and fitting in well with some of rock's most classic acts, including Heart, Joan Jett, Graham Nash, Country Joe McDonald and members of Deep Purple. Her talents didn't go unnoticed - Brian May handpicked her for a key role in his London-based musical, We Will Rock You.

He then went on to help her develop the retro-futuristic Arielle model for his Brian May Guitars, making it the first original guitar design May has contributed to since creating his own iconic Red Special.

With the title of her 2021 album, Analog Girl in a Digital World, Arielle acknowledged her decidedly anachronistic bent. Her new release, '73, firmly nails its colors to the retro mast once again, but never resorts to slavishly aping the obvious influences of the era.

Instead, Arielle takes her inspiration from the warm, organic guitar tones of the great early '70s albums and actively seeks to embrace the breadth and diversity that was standard for the classic records of the time.

The new album sees Arielle explore a wide range of styles, from the country-tinged "Weakness for You" to the full-blown fusion excesses of "Kalypso." In between, there are driving, hard-rocking good-time anthems, introspective singer-songwriter elements and even a cover of the old Bread hit "If." In addition to her music career, Arielle has actively worked to conserve trees used in guitar making through her not-for-profit charity, Tonewood Forest (tonewoodforest.com). The group plants one new tree for every BMG Arielle that is sold and has purchased plots worldwide to help remedy the imbalance caused by over harvesting.