"The song sent with aim from the bow of the muse."

Starling Arrow is an all-star cast of spirit-folk songstresses featuring Leah Song and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia, Tina Malia, Ayla Nereo, and Marya Stark. The members of the female-fronted super-group share a common devotion for the love of songwriting, which they elegantly capture in their debut album, Cradle (February 16, 2023). The artists of Starling Arrow are brought together by a mutual love of beauty, the power of music as a sanctuary, and the deep joy of encountering the muse. Powerhouse songwriters individually and innovative leaders within the industry, this joining is a potent gift of synergy.  

The ensemble of Starling Arrow was unintentionally conceived during the pandemic’s lockdown. In the wake of canceled tours, the 5 musicians were inspired to meet weekly over Zoom to collectively sing and alchemize the chaos of a changing world into their craft of songwriting. Each week they choose a topic and style of song to inspire their writing. The following week, they would share what they had created in the round, each taking a turn to unveil their song. 

The collective wrote countless songs over nearly 2 years of this weekly communing and creating. Deep in their own creative exploration, the 5 muses chose to keep the music to themselves, but the universe had other plans. Thanks to a spontaneous gathering in person, the desire to sing as a collective, and Tina Malia bringing mics at the last minute, an album began to record itself. These songs are what fed the creation of Cradle. 

Cradle is a time capsule of a selection of this music, 2 original songs from each artist, all layered in gorgeous 5 part harmonies, with all 5 singing on each other’s compositions. The songs range in topic and style, documenting the story of a shared human experience, colored by the backdrop of a unique history in the making. It is an album to soothe the body and mind, lullabies for the child in all of us. In addition to 10 original songs, the mostly acoustic album includes 1 traditional lullaby and an improvisational hum track. Produced and engineered by Tina Malia, Cradle is a musical offering of nourishment, melodies for restoration, healing for the pandemic weary soul.  

The group name, Starling Arrow, was born after learning more about the starling, an iridescent songbird known for its cooperation with its fellow birds to create beautiful murmuration patterns in the sky. Arrow speaks to the aim all 5 artists have together as songbirds, to create a song from collaborative inspiration and have it land in a place of unique beauty. Starling Arrow is meant to convey “The song sent with aim from the bow of the muse." 

5 singles and 5 music videos accompany the release, focusing on and individually share the magic of each muse as part of this collective whole. The group’s 1st single, ‘Wild Sweet’ by Ayla Nereo, was released October 7, 2022. The reaction to the song on Spotify was robust after being added to the official playlist Fresh Folk and encouraging their Spotify listenership to grow from 0 to 60,000 monthly listeners in 2 months. Footage from their debut performance at the Hawk and Hawthorne in North Carolina this past July will be shared soon. Additionally, a handful of performances to support the release will be announced across the U.S. for late 2023. Until then, there are these amazing recordings to let go into…

 

"Gorgeously wrought, Starling Arrow delivers a bravura performance dripping with a sense of luxurious splendor.” 

Randy Radic - Guitar Girl Magazine 

"There’s an earthy, rootedness to the sound from Starling Arrow that is evident from first to last note. The vocal harmonies have an intimacy and connection to them that make them really stand out.”  

Greg Jones - Ear To The Ground Music 

"These folk festival darlings show humility and wisdom through this impressive project. This is about a general love and admiration for their craft, a joy out of creating these fantastic works, and a consensual musical respect magnified through this exciting new venture."

The Wild is Calling Me 

"Cradle is going to rock you into a place where every harmony has a divine place in the scheme of things....  These songs are medicine. Only good can come from leaning into this."

Judy Craddock - Ink 19

 

AYLA NEREO

Ayla Nereo is a singer, composer, producer, dancer, and visual-poetry creator from the mountains of eastern California. Grown in forests and rivers, she is a bridger of the timeless and modern, weaving poetry and sound into a magical and emotional world of sonic beauty. 

With a particular joy for bridging musical styles, Ayla's songs seem a genre unto their own, as she moves between vocal looping, produced beats, live drumming, orchestral string arrangements, Celtic melodies, disco rhythms, electronic soundscapes, and even dashes of hip-hop wordplay. Lyrical meditations and riddles of language dance into wondrous tapestries of sound and story, from electronic folk ballads to celtic melodies and elvin loop-pedal mantras. 

Having an uncanny ability to crack open the heart, Ayla's songs are an ode to the wonder of being human, inviting us deeper into the exquisite and innately psychedelic dream of this moment.

"One of the most poignant voices currently floating about... Ayla Nero is an otherworldly artist who shares the fruits of her soul" — The Huffington Post

“[Ayla’s] relationship with the earth is imprinted in her music… expansive and intriguing.” — Billboard

Calling us to listen deeper, her songs are elegant masterpieces of lucid storytelling, with lyrics ringing as anthems for planetary healing, human potential, beauty, and compassion.  

Though you’d never know it by witnessing her perform, Ayla grew up with an intense fear of singing. In her final year of college, songs began pouring through her, and it was only through the constant urging of those around her that she began to slowly share her music. Propelled by the songs themselves, Ayla’s journey of meeting those fears and singing through them has grown her into the powerful performer she is today, touching an ever-widening global audience with the inspiring magic of her songs.  

Ayla released her 6th solo album, By The Light of the Dark Moon, in 2019 via Jumpsuit Records and is preparing to release her 7th solo album, the first in a 4-part sonic saga, in early 2023. 

Website

MARYA STARK

Marya Stark is a California based performing artist. She is a vocalist, composer, producer and instrumentalist. 

As a multi-media enchantress, she creates the way she breathes; without choice or hesitation. She is a carrier of myth, mystery, and medicine songs with which she embarks to create a ceremony of the human experience, taking her audience on lucid journey's through the caverns of the soul.

Her most recent release Sapphire has seen airplay from NPR and was picked as one of the Top 25 Featured Artists on Echos. This concept album, in collaboration with Joshua Penman, has been described as “One of the most inspiring performances I’ve listened to in 2020. I don’t believe you’ll find another album with the message we so need in these troubled times. A superbly crafted musical adventure that is MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ”- Contemporary Fusion

When she is not on stage or composing music, Marya teaches as a mentor in the art of voice, cultivation of the muse, and song craft. She is the founder of the Temple Of The Muse, leading inner alchemy through immersive transformational expressive arts containers. 

She is a chaser of waterfalls, a lover of bulletproof coffee, and is a huge fan of the Parade Of Flamingos from BBC's Planet Earth II.

WEBSITE

CHLOE SMITH

Chloe Smith is a singer, song writer, musician, world traveler, poet, and community organizer.  She is a lover of the raw and wild, devourer of good books books and candle lit spaces.  Ferocity intertwined with gentleness describes her essence. Chloe has traveled extensively in Latin America, Europe, and the States with her band, Rising Appalachia, playing concerts, hosting festivals, and leading groups in song and movement. With a background in childcare and education as well as many years running a successful business, she brings a heightened awareness of the importance of creativity and magic through sound and imagination.  Born in Atlanta Georgia to an Appalachian fiddler and a folk sculptor, Chloe carries the strength of her family and musical upbringing into each project she embarks upon. 

weBSITE

TINA MALIA

Tina Malia is a visionary musical artist.  Her sonic creations span sacred chant, world, dream pop and folk music genres.  A prolific singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, sound engineer and producer,  Malia expresses her radiant inner landscape through song. 
A beloved pioneer in a growing community of people around the world dedicated to residing in harmony with the Earth, Tina expresses her passion through art and music.  Her all-encompassing musical and spiritual perspective has led her to studio and live performance with a vast array of iconic artists including Kenny Loggins, India.Arie, Bonnie Raitt, Bassnectar, Deva Premal and Miten, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary) Peter Kater and Joanne Shenandoah.  Tina's acclaimed catalog of self-produced albums include Shores of Avalon, Jaya Bhagavan, The Silent Awakening, The Lost Frontier, Bridge to Vallabha, and Anahata. 

weBSITE

Leah Song

Leah Song is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumental musician, storyteller, poet, and activist known for her role as front woman in Rising Appalachia, alongside her sister Chloe Smith and their prolific band. She incorporats sultry vocals, rhythm, banjo, guitar, ballads, dance, spoken-word and storytelling into her work. Her music is based in the traditions of Southern soul and international roots music, and she travels far and wide as a student of the bardic traditions of our times. Song engages in social activism and is involved with the environment, food justice, human rights and prison advocacy.


She has studied and worked alongside some of the greatest teachers of our time, including Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Martin Shaw, Joanna Macy, Winona LaDuke, Sobunfu Some, Guadelupe Urbina, and Rosemary Gladstar, gathering tools and teachings of resilience, mythology, folk music, creative ritual, and rewilding.

WEBSITE