Brian Ahern, the Halifax-born producer who helped persuade Anne Murray to trade teaching for a recording career and went on to work with Johnny Cash and Emmylou Harris, has died at 81, CBC reports.

Murray and Ahern’s daughters remembered him as a gifted musician and dedicated collaborator whose influence extended from Canadian television studios to country and roots music. Their recollections were reported by CBC’s Giuliana Grillo de Lambarri.

Murray first met Ahern while auditioning for Singalong Jubilee, the CBC television program featuring local artists in Halifax. Ahern was its musical producer. She failed her first audition but was invited back two years later and secured a place.

“He wanted me to be on that show,” Murray told CBC on Wednesday. “And that’s where it all started with Brian.”

After moving to Toronto, Ahern kept writing to Murray, who was still teaching on the East Coast, urging her to make an album. She eventually left teaching and joined him.

Their early recording efforts came with financial difficulties. Murray recalled using money she had earned teaching to get Ahern’s guitar back before they could record in a studio.

“We kind of cut our teeth and grew up in the music business together,” she said.

Ahern produced 13 Murray albums, according to the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, including 1969’s This Way Is My Way, which contained her breakthrough song, Snowbird.

His career also took him to Los Angeles and Nashville. Alongside Cash, his production credits included George Jones, Ricky Skaggs and Rodney Crowell. He produced 11 albums for Harris.

Ahern 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 became a member of the Order of Canada in 2019.

In a statement following his death, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum said his work “provided a blueprint for Americana music in the 1990s.”

His daughters, Shannon and Meghann Ahern, recalled accompanying him to recording sessions and sleeping in studios. Shannon remembered him building a play space from soundproofing baffles so she could stay nearby while he worked.

Meghann described learning from her father that making art required “a work ethic and commitment and dedication.”

Sources