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With a nod and a wink, Casey Ahern has taken her (and, let’s face it, our) love of classic country songs and has written a love song to them. You know, the songs that completely embody the country song trope, but still manage to worm their way firmly into our hearts forever. With a slightly funky groove woven into the twang, and Ahern’s clear, gorgeous vocals riding shotgun over top, the song is catchy and bright in counterpoint to the song title. You can imagine this song living comfortably on the radio alongside the songs she sings about. Vents is pleased to premiere the song here exclusively today.
The release of “Heartbreak Radio” follows the success Ahern had over the past year with singles including “Bradley,” “Didn’t Even Get a Goodbye” and “Sunday Driver” – three other tracks that will be included on her upcoming EP, “Where I Run,” set for release later in 2021.
We sat down recently with Ahern for an exclusive chat to get the inside scoop on her new single, “Heartbreak Radio,” how this song turned out better than she’d even hoped it might, and how the “teary-eyed classics” on country radio are the ones we turn to time and time again. Read while you listen.
Vents: What prompted you to write this song? What is it about? Was there a flash of inspiration behind it?
Casey: “Heartbreak Radio” was one of my first songs I’ve ever written back in the early 2010’s about my lifelong passion for country music and the way it has “taught me to love, to hurt” and find comfort in its lyrics. For me, music has always been about the lyrics and the way it makes people feel — even when the record skips, the radio hits a bit of static, or every station plays the “same old teary-eyed classics.” So the inspiration came from that love of those heartbreaking country songs. You know, the ones when you change the dial to the country station, it’s “my dog died, my wife left me, and my truck broke down!” The ones we all know and grew up loving!
Vents: This song is from your forthcoming EP. What made you want to release this song into the world before the EP comes out? Does it feel like a good “summertime” song to you?
Casey: Every track off the “Where I Run” EP has this sense of forward motion or running within the song, and “Heartbreak Radio” spotlights how I run to country music for comfort. Being the last track off of the EP, “Heartbreak Radio” felt like the perfect pick to lead right into the full EP release. To me, “Heartbreak Radio” has a groove to it, and every time I play it, people kind of want to dance in their seats — which I think very much fits the vibe for summer!
Vents: This song has such a great vibe to it and it sounds like it was fun to record in the studio. Did the finished song come out like you imagined it would, or is it totally different? How so? What was the recording session like for this song? Any great stories from the studio for this one?
Casey: I brought “Heartbreak Radio” to my producers, Nathan Meckel and Mark Niemiec, on an iPhone voice memo with just my vocals and rhythm acoustic guitar. How the studio musicians, Nathan, and Mark took it and made it into a fun, want-to-get-up-and-groove song absolutely blew my mind! This one was the track on the upcoming EP that turned out so much better than I could’ve ever imagined or hoped for. We were actually all sitting in the studio, and a couple of guys walked in to talk to Nathan. Long story short, one of them is related to the writer of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” which is a classic country song, and very fitting to us working on “Heartbreak Radio” at the time, ha ha!
Vents: You are a great lyricist — it’s obvious you work hard on that craft. What’s your favorite lyric line in the song? Why is it your favorite?
Casey: Thank you very much! Personally, my favorite lyric is, “Listeners sayin’ play somethin’ so I can get over my heartache last night.” I feel like it’s kind of a funny lyric everyone can relate to in one way or another. You know, the people who go out to a bar on a Saturday night, end up having one too many drinks, and regretting it the next morning? Whether they had a fight with their significant other or had only one dance with someone who could’ve been “the one.” So they call into the radio station the next morning to help them, umm….get over it. Ha ha!
Vents: What do you hope the message of this song is to those who hear it?
Casey: “Heartbreak Radio” kind of jokes about the cliches of sadder, country music hit songs, but these are what I grew up listening to and the ones we all love! If listeners can take anything away from this song, it’s the reminder of their love for classic country music, and how it’s influenced everything on country radio today.
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