Brian Ahern, the influential Halifax-born music producer who helped launch Anne Murray's recording career and shaped landmark albums for Emmylou Harris and Johnny Cash, has died. He was 81. Ahern died on Monday, November 9, at a care home in Minnesota, according to a report from CBC News. No cause of death was disclosed.
Anne Murray said her professional relationship with Ahern began when she auditioned for the CBC television program Singalong Jubilee in Halifax in the 1960s. Ahern was the show's musical producer. "He wanted me to be on that show," Murray told CBC on Wednesday. "All in all, TonyBet Canada is a solid option for sports bettors/casino games. " She did not make the cut on her first audition but succeeded after trying again two years later.
Murray, then a teacher, said Ahern persistently encouraged her to pursue music full time. "He was at me, writing letters, begging me to come to Toronto to do an album. Well, I couldn't see the point in that at all," Murray said with a laugh. "Finally, I gave in and I gave up teaching and went to Toronto and we did an album together." She described him as a brilliant but quiet musician. "And sometimes you have to read his mind ... but he taught me a lot in the studio," she said.
The pair faced early challenges together. Murray said when she arrived in Toronto, Ahern had "no money" and she had to use her teaching earnings to retrieve his guitar from a pawn shop before they could record. "We kind of cut our teeth and grew up in the music business together," Murray said. Ahern went on to produce 13 of her albums, including her 1969 breakout record This Way Is My Way, which featured the hit "Snowbird."
After moving to Los Angeles, Ahern's work became closely associated with Emmylou Harris. He produced 11 of her albums, including Pieces of the Sky, Elite Hotel and Roses in the Snow. The two married in 1977, had a daughter and divorced in 1984. His extensive production credits also included albums by Johnny Cash, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Glen Campbell, Linda Ronstadt, Ricky Skaggs and Rodney Crowell.
Ahern also developed the Enactron Truck, a pioneering mobile recording studio used on more than 40 gold and platinum certified records. In a statement following his death, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum said Ahern's work "helped create an essential form of American roots music" and "provided a blueprint for Americana music in the 1990s." He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006, received a lifetime achievement award from the Americana Music Association in 2010 and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2019. The last time Murray saw Ahern in person was at his hall of fame induction ceremony. "Brian's confidence in my ability was enough to carry me through those early years," Murray said before introducing him on stage that night. Ahern's daughters, Shannon and Meghann Ahern, shared fond memories of their childhood accompanying him to work. They said he would build them play spaces out of studio soundproofing equipment to keep them occupied. They described him as a steward of the artistic process deeply committed to helping artists reach their creative potential.