by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Bureau Chief/Central

February 26, 2009

Arlan Feiles says compassion is what inspires him. The Jewish songwriter, who will be performing at the Union Y’s Coffee House on Saturday, March 12, says that is as true of him now — with high hopes both personally and politically — as it was when he raged against the Bush administration over the past few years.

A fierce compassion for the lovelorn and the oppressed has fueled his songs since he started writing at the age of 12, as a Jewish day school student in Los Angeles. Now, in his 30s, living in Garwood, and playing New Jersey venues from Westfield to Asbury Park, he is happily engaged to a woman he loves and believes in our new president — and still his music seethes with that concern.

“I’m a diehard romantic. I see life as a struggle, but that doesn’t mean my music is depressing,” he said in an interview with NJ Jewish News. “That’s very Jewish, isn’t it — but why?”

Evidently a multitasker, he started the discussion as he prowled Home Depot in search of WD40 and continued it from the home he shares with his bride-to-be, Katie Lederman.

“I’m very conscious of my roots and the struggles that our family went through in the Holocaust,” he said. “We were taught to ‘never forget.’ I can’t be like other musicians whose people have never been through that kind of loss. I think that my songs have a hopeful message, but they are asking, ‘What’s wrong here?’”

Feiles has always voiced his political views from the stage. “One of my favorite sayings is: ‘Comfort the challenged, and challenge the comfortable,’” he said. There were some who objected to that, but now he is seeing a difference in his audiences.

“For years — maybe since 9/11 — people have been so afraid to express themselves. “There was that whole ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us’ attitude,” he said. “But now people are responding really passionately. I’ve seen some of them totally transformed.”

‘Out of the labyrinth’

His love of music began with lessons from the age of four and sessions with the family gathered around the piano as his dad — a pharmacist by profession — played rock by favorites like Elton John and the Beatles. The family had show biz connections — his mother later became an independent film producer — and Feiles got a couple of acting gigs, including one on the ’80s TV show Night Court, but songwriting was his thing. “Music made me happy,” he said.

One of his buddies and fellow music lovers was Dweezil Zappa, son of the legendary pop star Frank Zappa. When Feiles listed his name among the people he wanted to invite to his birthday party, his mother insisted on calling the school to ask for the real name. She said, “Arlan, no one’s called ‘the weasel.’”

Feiles came east to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. Being hounded into playing the “correct” way wasn’t for him. He dropped out after a few months, opting instead to take to the road with a band, Natural Causes, that he formed with a friend. After they broke up, he got to record a number of albums — most happily with producer Tom Dowd, and to play with some of the music world’s big names, including The Band, Hot Tuna, Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Dave Mathews, and many more.

Later, living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and playing the New York scene, he met Lederman, and through her, came to live in the Garden State. “Music is important to people in New Jersey,” he declared. From a guy who clearly speaks his mind, that is more than smooth talk.

These days, among other gigs, he plays on Wednesdays in Westfield at Rockin’ Joe on Prospect Street. His band, Gift Horse, grew into the 14-piece Lone Orchestra, which plays upbeat Americana at venues along the Jersey shore, most regularly in Asbury Park. He has a new album out, Come Sunday Morning; has rereleased his album, Razing the Nation; and just over a year ago, was named as the Asbury Music Awards’ “Top Americana Artist” and “Top Keyboardist.”

That doesn’t mean he is done with the gritty, soulful sound that has had some compare him to Bob Dylan. Life is still about struggle, but maybe there’s light on the horizon. “I’ve come out of the labyrinth hopeful,” he acknowledged.

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