Fresh Find - Ari Castronovo
- Freshly Brewed Country
- Jul 29, 2015
- 5 min read
We are happy to announce Ari Castronovo as our latest Fresh Find here at Freshly Brewed Country!
At a freshly turned 20 years old, Ari Castronovo is already starting to turn heads after releasing her first project "Under My Breath" this year. Nashville producer David Browning - formerly worked with Katy Perry, Amy Grant, and CeCe Winans to name a few - took the small town girl from Northern Illinois and got her songs into the studio.
In the past few months she has been performing live at Fests all across Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin and meets with new found mentor Pete Fisher in Nashville on a regular basis.
Ari is the type of artist whose music will constantly shock and surprise, but she never fails to deliver a song better than the last one you heard. A smiling face and a humble heart forward, Ari is only just getting beginning her long music career ahead.
Be sure to download music from Ari Castronovo on iTunes today.
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Want to know a little more about Ari Castronovo? If so, then check out our interview with the country singer.
FBC: What made you want to get involved in the country music world?
AC: You could say I stumbled into country music. Growing up in a conservative home, if it wasn't played in church or on Christian radio, I had no idea who any artist was. When Carrie Underwood hit the scene after American Idol, I started digging into country music, a big stand out was Faith Hill, and I was instantly sold. Country is all about the story, the lyrics, and every emotion on the spectrum. There is just always so much to be said! As country music progressed to become more of a limitless genre that's when I knew it was for me. I had so much room to develop myself as a writer and performer and not feel restricted by repetitive lyrics or a simple melody line.
FBC: What song of yours is your favorite and why?
AC: Off of my EP, the song Matches is definitely one I always go back to. I think it's because my co-writer Josh Phillips and I had the most fun writing it! It's track two on the project, but it was actually the last song written for it. David, my producer, and called saying we needed an up-beat pop-country tune to round out the EP. JP and I got together the next evening, and being good friends as well, we were goofing off and laughing so much the song just came out so effortlessly. Performed live, it's always the crowd favorite of the night.
FBC: What do you use for inspiration to write your songs?
AC: For me, if I can't feel it or connect to it, I can't write it. Everything off of my EP is based off of something I've been through and experienced. I do too though love to sit down with a co-writer or a friend and connect with something they've experienced and write lyrics that tell their story best.
FBC: What is your role with the Veterans R&R organization and why others should get involved?
AC: I met the co-founders of the organization a little over two years ago. Jimmy, president of Veterans R&R is a Marine veteran and he had set out to start an organization that focusses on alternative therapy treatments for veterans suffering from PTSD. Not many Americans know that 24 US Vets take their own lives every day. As someone who has some of my very best friends serving, I wanted to know what I could do so that they didn't end up a part of that statistic. Veterans R&R has quickly grown to become an organization focussed on being a Bridge between various veterans organizations and veteran aid services. Their goal is to be the over-arching source of help for Veterans.
My job and partnership with the organization is to connect with young recruits and active duty military personnel. Music is a great common connection, and Veterans R&R hosts lots of event each year specifically for our young military and I have the honor of spending the day connecting with them.
Moving forward we launched a new program called 24toZero (based on the suicide statistic) that will be focussed on being a proactive community that connects with and stays in contact with young recruits and active duty. I want everyone going in to the service to have a "friend" on the mainland to turn to every step of the way. We have a lot of big plans for the program, it is something we are talking about having it stand alone as it's own Foundation or Organization. It's something anyone will be able to fund and will grow to be a huge rallying project for Americans in support of our Red, White, and Blue.
FBC: Who is your country music idol and why?
AC: This one is hard for me, there are so many artists I look up to, each for a different reason. If I have to choose just one, Carrie is a huge figure to me. I've been watching her since she broke out on tv. What's amazing to me about her is that she has grown immensely in the last 10 years in everything from her music, to her performances, to her sound, to her skills as a songwriter. What she has never done though is stray from who she is at her center. And what came from that? She's earned the nickname "The Queen of Country," and rightly so if you ask me.
FBC: What are three fun facts about you that you want your fans to know?
AC: 1) I cannot resist a random dance break-out with full lip sync included. Just the other day I was out shopping at a home goods store and my mom and sister were laughing too hard to break out their cameras as I proceeded to dance through the aisles with full hand-motions and invisible microphone gestures to the Pink song they were blasting through the store. Anytime, any place, if a familiar song is playing, you can bet you'll find me dancing.
2) I have a strange obsession with bacon, burgers, and coffee. If I elaborate, things will only get weird. But you could ask my friends and family, they often find themselves in the car with me at random and absurd hours of the day in pursuit of fixing my cravings for one of the three.
3) I listen to Bon Jovi before every single performance. Including on my way for a vocal take in the studio.
Stay up to date on the latest Ari Castronovo news by following him on social media.
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