David Haerle Observes a Lifetime Pass By on Introspective New Single “The Hills of Silver Lake”
David Haerle, a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Los Angeles, crafts his work from the vantage point of someone who has remained near enough to his roots to witness their transformation. Drawing on personal history, familiar locations, and the individuals surrounding him, his music merges rock, country, and Americana with introspective narratives and guitar-driven compositions shaped by decades spent in the music industry.
Haerle was raised in a household where music served as both a creative outlet and a source of income. His father, Martin, who immigrated from Germany, co-founded the independent label CMH Records, initially operating the business from the family’s Los Angeles garage and a spare room. On his mother’s side, his grandparents co-owned Nashville country station WENO alongside Cal Young, and Roy Acuff once invited a nine-year-old Haerle to perform onstage at the Grand Ole Opry.
After receiving a Fender Stratocaster around age 13, Haerle performed in rock and alternative new wave bands during the 1980s before transitioning to a role as a music agent at ICM. Following his father’s unexpected death, he assumed control of the family business at 24. Since then, Haerle has served as president of CMH Records—now CMH Label Group—while continuing to write, record, and play guitar. His albums include Garden of Edendale (2018), Death Valley (2020), and El Camino Sierra (2023).
His newest single, “The Hills of Silver Lake,” applies that extended perspective to the Los Angeles neighborhood where he grew up and still resides as an adult. The song traces familiar streets, homes, eateries, and landmarks across the years, capturing the subtle realization that a location can remain recognizable even as nearly everything within it shifts.
“’The Hills of Silver Lake’ is about living your adulthood in the neighborhood you grew up in. I think it gives you a special view of life as it goes by,” Haerle explains. He writes about longtime waiters aging and retiring, new families occupying homes once tied to childhood friends, landmarks vanishing, and people he knew passing away. Through those observations, the song also acknowledges Haerle’s own journey through time. It is, he says, an attempt to describe “this particular experience of bearing witness, and about realizing that I, too, am just passing through.”
Haerle wrote the track and produced it with frequent collaborator Jose Salazar, who also mixed and engineered the recording. Haerle provides lead vocals and plays electric and acoustic rhythm guitars, joined by Carson Cohen on bass, backing vocals, and string arrangement; Ken Belcher on electric guitars; Reade Pryor on drums and percussion; Salazar on keyboards; Leah Zeger on violin and viola; and Derek Stein on cello.
The video, also available now, was shot and edited by director Michael Pottle. It unfolds like a kaleidoscope of California memories, with shifting imagery and a dreamlike sense of place that aligns with the song’s nostalgic mood. The visual approach reflects how familiar moments, streets, and landmarks can merge together when viewed across a lifetime.
“The Hills of Silver Lake” follows “Tucumcari Tonite!,” Haerle’s reflection on childhood road trips through the American Southwest. While continuing to lead CMH Label Group, he is working on his fourth album and preparing additional music for release throughout the year.
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