Meet Casey Ahern

Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Ahern.

Casey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Born and raised in California, I always grew up surrounded by music, whether it was classic Doris Day musicals or Glen Campbell albums and found myself learning to sing along. Luckily, my parents are extremely supportive and enrolled me in guitar and voice lessons when I was about seven years old. I also loved writing poems and creative stories and once I got proficient enough on guitar, turned pen and paper to melodies and lyrics. Fast forward nine years, after playing my original songs at countless open mic nights in Southern California, I formed a band and booked our first live show at a country bar in Ventura County.

I cut my teeth playing live shows with the band and never questioned that music is what I want to do. I took the California High School Proficiency Exam to exit school the month I turned 16 and then went on to study music and journalism at Moorpark Community College. When I was about 17 and a half, I applied and got accepted into Berklee College of Music in Boston. While at Berklee, I took a trip down to Nashville and fell in love with the music community down there. So after only a semester at Berklee, I moved down to Nashville and have been back and forth from there and Los Angeles ever since.

Continuing to write my own songs and play them at live shows in California and Nashville, I decided to release and record my first single “And Me.” I actually recorded it on my computer in my living room with just my Taylor guitar and me haha! Through that though, I learned about copyright, royalties and the basics of releasing music. Later that year, I recorded my first EP at Stagg Street Studios in Van Nuys entitled He Was Summer and began working with a publicist shortly after to build up an online press presence. Then in 2019, I recorded my latest EP, Where I Run, at Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville with veteran Music City musicians and producers.

We released “Just a Dance,” the first single off the EP, at the end of 2019 and filmed my first-ever music video for the track. “Sunday Driver” was the follow-up single and music video, which originally was going to lead up to the full EP release. However, COVID hit and we decided to just keep releasing each song off the EP as its own single, which really allowed the songs their own spotlight.

Over the course of 2020, I played live streams for The Boot, Americana Highways and various radio stations as well as gained song placements in Abercrombie and Fitch, Macy’s, Gap and Old Navy. My single “Didn’t Even Get A Goodbye” received national country airplay throughout the U.S and the week of August 12, 2020, was in the Top 5 streams and Top 8 downloads in the country format on Play MPE. Through highs and lows, my publicist and I kept things moving until the full release of the Where I Run EP, or collection, in August 2021.

Now as things have opened up, I’ve been back to booking live shows and have played various Los Angeles venues such as The Mint and Hotel Cafe’s Main Stage as well as wineries up north and writer’s nights in Nashville. Most recently, the band and I played Relay for Life of Conejo Valley and I’ve been working on writing more songs for new music in 2022.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I think like everything there’s ups and downs, but it’s how we deal with these struggles that make us who we are. So many times have things almost panned out, such as big TV press or certain connections, that end up falling through. Which can be disappointing, but they also reassure me that at least I’m heading in the right direction and more importantly, that everything happens for a reason.

The hardest thing to date that I’ve had to deal with was by far the effects of COVID on live performances. My greatest joy in what I do comes from playing live with my band and connecting with people. When that all shut down, I turned to online live streams and learning more about online marketing. However, that didn’t fulfill me like in-person live shows do. So there were days when I found myself extremely down and wondering what’s going to happen, when live shows will return and what they’ll be like when they do.

Luckily, at my recent shows, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the crowd happier to be at a live concert! The whole vibe of the room is so positive and grateful to just be there – I love it!

Another struggle, which I believe a lot of people who are self-employed or in creative industries can relate to, is the constant wondering, “will I ever be successful” or “will I ever be able to make a living and survive off of what I do?” I’ll find myself driving around aimlessly, crying, worrying about this. However, mind over matter! To deal with this and make these emotions constructive instead of debilitating, I remind myself that if music is something I truly love, I have to have faith in myself, that the journey is all just a part of it and these moments can turn into songs later haha!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an Americana/country singer-songwriter that puts a focus on telling stories and making people feel something deeper when they hear my music. I’ve had people come up to me and tell me that a song of mine made them cry because it reminded them of someone or something important in their life. If even just one person hears one of my songs and it touches them or encourages them to act in a positive or loving way, then my job is done!

I’d have to say I’m most proud of my latest EP Where I Run. I originally took the songs to my producers Nathan Meckel and Mark Niemiec as just iPhone recordings of me singing them and playing my guitar. Now to see these songs go from iPhone memo ideas to demos to professionally recorded tracks still amazes me! They definitely exceeded my expectations and I feel proud to hear what we accomplished with them.

When thinking about what sets me apart from others, I think it’d be how much I value morals throughout everything I do. If something comes up, even if it’s a good opportunity, if it doesn’t align with who I am or what I believe in, I wouldn’t in my heart be able to accept it. I strongly believe in staying true to who I am and not wavering my moral compass in any way, shape or form.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Funny thing: I actually never liked networking! To me, it always felt disingenuous. However, I’ve been fortunate over the past few years to find people that I not only like working with but like as people too. I think that’s the number one piece of networking advice that I would give: find those who you genuinely like as people and help each other out without expecting anything in return.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.caseyahern.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casey_ahern/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaseyAhernMusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/casey_ahern
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/caseyahern
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4hgvJQ6te9I2VRBatFbhov?si=EbhtRlAjR6-CfFN3yW33qA&nd=1

Image Credits:
Photos by Alexander Kawasaki, Alyssa Barker, Arian Mahboubian, Haley Ahern, Irina Logra and Vince Trupsin.