Twenty one-year-old Kirsten Arian has been singing her entire life. At the age of seventeen, she sang in front of an audience for the first time. From then on, she dabbled in music—everything from touring the Los Angeles nightclub scene to serenading herself, with only her guitar for company. It wasn’t a lonely occasion, because she discovered her love for creating and not just singing.
In August 2012, she spontaneously decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee. The songs she creates and writes simply happen. An idea strikes, inspiration will take hold of her, or passion will well up and a song is born. She never sets out with a goal in mind, but her unique sounds, melodies, and voice seem to come from another place. “I write songs,” she says, “from an overwhelming emotion. The music as well as the lyrics are meant to convey that emotion or passion.” There is no formula. There is only what works and truth.
Other than a grandmother who enjoyed singing, Kirsten Arian has no musical pedigree or background: she was born to a family with an unlikely gift. The gift is not only her voice, but her ability to capture the intangible in a new way, provoking others to inspiration of their own and to the beauty that comes even from out of pain.
Fans of Kirsten Arian typically remark on the continuity of her sound, but at the same time seeing how different each song is by itself. “Yeah, they sound so similar, like, I can tell it’s the same artist, but I don’t feel like I could get songs on the album mixed up you know? They’re different but still Kirsten. And truly inspiring.” “I just want to make something stunning,” Kirsten says. “Something that moves people to reevaluate, their life? I want the music to go a little deeper than normal.”