Atlanta, GA
Rahn was born outside the small town of McGraw in upstate New York. His entire family is very musical. He began performing music when he was about five years old. Rahn and his family would sing for special events in and around the community. When his youngest brother was old enough, all five of them would perform together.
“I remember going with my parents to buy our first piano. At first I had no interest in learning to play the piano. But one day at school, our music teacher bought a brand new electric keyboard for the classroom. I thought it was the coolest thing. I went home that night and told my parents that I wanted one.”
His parents made a deal with him. They said that if he takes piano lessons, they would buy him a keyboard.
“Little did I know it would be three years later before I got that keyboard!”
Piano came very natural to Rahn as he learned quickly and surpassed many of his peers. Within a year of taking lessons, Rahn’s piano teacher occasionally took him out of school for private performances.
“That was when I made my first two dollars playing the piano. Every now and then I run across those two dollars still stored in a small thank you card.”
By the time Rahn was 13 years old, music had taken hold in his life and he knew from that point on that he would pursue music as a career. It was also at this time when he began writing his first piano compositions.
From here on out, Rahn took advantage of every music opportunity he could find from singing in the school choir and playing bass guitar in the jazz band to acting in musical theater. He even took percussion lessons so he could play in the school concert and marching bands.
Rahn started his first rock band with some friends when he was 14 years old. By the time he was 15 he was playing in clubs around central New York.
Throughout high school Rahn continued to take piano lessons. When he was 17, his piano teacher retired as the church organist and he took over. The church had just purchased a brand new electric keyboard and during the week they would allow him to take it home. He wrote more and more music as having this keyboard offered tons of new inspiration.
After high school Rahn went to SUNY Fredonia where he double majored in both music education and piano performance. There he studied with Mr. Robert Jordan, a very successful concert pianist who studied at Eastman and Julliard conservatories. Rahn also won many awards and scholarships including the annual concerto competition where he got to perform the third movement to Tchaikovsky’s 1st Piano Concerto with the symphony orchestra.
After college Rahn became the vocal director at various public schools in upstate NY where he taught grades one through twelve. Having spent most of his music career playing classical piano and rock music, teaching vocal music exposed Rahn to all kinds of new styles of music.
Teaching public school music was very stressful work at times. To relieve the stress of teaching, Rahn helped form another rock band with some friends from high school called “Special Unit 2.”
“Our goal was to break all the rules when it came to song writing. The music was very unique and difficult to classify. We called it, New Wave New Wave. I guess you’d have to hear it to understand.”
After five years of teaching and having just finished his Masters Degree in Music Technology from IUPUI, Rahn decided it was time to start a new chapter in his life. He packed up and moved to Atlanta, GA.
Rahn’s initial plan was to start an audio and video production business with his friend whose basement he was living in. But starting a business proved to be quite difficult. To make ends meet, he decided to teach private piano lessons a few days a week.
Those first couple years in Atlanta proved to be an incredible challenge for Rahn. Struggling to get by, his plans soon took an immediate halt. Only months before getting married his fiancé decided to bolt.
“It completely devastated me. For months I barely ate or slept. I felt sick and all I wanted to do was walk.”
With few options and no money, Rahn turned to what he knew best and that was making music. He poured his heart and soul into the piano and began writing. He also joined the popular 80’s cover band “Moby Dick.” Soon after, he landed a job as a sound designer at a studio outside Atlanta, GA. With some money in the bank, a new job, new apartment, new girlfriend, and a new collection of original piano compositions, Rahn’s life was headed in a new and exciting direction.
“I believe that things happen for a reason, that life is a spiritual journey with experiences to strengthen our soul. I wake up every day feeling incredibly blessed. My life has made a complete 180 from where I was just a few years ago.”
Rahn is part of several music projects now. He’s still playing with Moby Dick. They’ve opened up for bands such as Great White, Warrant, LA. Guns, The Bullet Boys, and Tito Jackson. They’ve played over 300 shows throughout the Southeast.
Rahn is also playing keyboards for the next overnight sensation Swedish pop singer, Ulrika, produced by American Idol producer Tricky Stewart.
Rahn still works at the studio where he’s done the sound design for hundreds of TV commercials, designed websites, edited video, and managed all the content played on hundreds of TV walls throughout the U.S. in electronics stores.
“But my most exciting achievement is the release of my first solo album of original piano music. This album contains my most personal collection of music that I’ve written throughout the past five years since moving to Atlanta. These songs helped me through my lowest hour. I hope they lift you to your highest!”
If Only…
Rahn
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