Meet Ian Mahan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Mahan.

Ian, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started playing music when I was a kid and my mom made me take piano lessons. I wasn’t much for it at the time as I was heavily involved in TaeKwonDo and was Junior Olympian and Regional Champion. I was pretty dedicated to TaeKwonDo throughout grade school and a good portion of high school. After my mom and I moved here from Illinois (she was a single parent), it was a good way for me to make friends and to stay dedicated to something and it became a very big part of my life. Fast forward to my junior year of high school at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, I badly injured my knee and was told I had degenerative arthritis in my knees at the age of 16. I had to pull back on the sports and playing music was the only other thing I knew how to do so I started writing songs.

I was dating this girl at the time in high school who was pretty dedicated to her athletic endeavors and she was pretty skeptical of me being able to do anything in music at the time and so I guess I didn’t like being told that I wasn’t going to be good at something or wasn’t going to be able to do it at all.

Fast forward to college after aforementioned girlfriend pretty much shattered my heart into billions of pieces and I was playing music like a friend. I was in multiple bands (though none of them good) in college, and after a while started to carve out my place as a singer-songwriter. I played show after show and finally started to make some headway opening for the likes of Howie Day, Stu Larsen, James McCartney (son of Paul McCartney), Tyler Hilton, Vanessa Carlton, Lewis Watson, Greg Holden, David Ryan Harris, and Marc Scibilia. I have recorded two EP’s and multiple singles and am currently working on a full-length while being fortunate enough to play in a band called Mlady here in Denver, in which I play bass.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think anything that is a smooth road is worth having or doing. You could say my road has been smoother than most and I am fortunate, but being the product of a single parent household had its disadvantages and advantages. My mom taught me how to work so I had that under my belt, but I also had to really work to figure out who I was. I had a lot of insecurities as a teenager/into my early-20’s from not having my dad around and it was important for me to figure out who I was and be sure of that.

I got to meet my father when I turned 21 and it’s been great being able to foster that relationship and become friends with someone that I was so curious about my entire life. My mom never said a bad thing about him and it was great on her part because I really got to enjoy meeting him with an open mind and being able to form my own relationship and opinions about him.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am a singer-songwriter based in Denver, CO, but in recent years have begun to branch out and play in other places across the country. Last year I broke into Boston and Los Angeles, and this year, I played in Los Angeles again as well as my hometown of Rockford, IL, and Chicago, IL. I don’t necessarily think that I specialize in any one thing in music. I enjoy performing and I really enjoy writing.

I think the thing that I enjoy most about the music industry is meeting people. My friends and my wife give me a hard time because I “know someone everywhere I go.” For some reason, I just remember things. It’s a gift and a curse, but I love being able to say hi to people I know anywhere I am, and if I don’t know anyone, you can bet I will know someone by the end of the night. I think music is unique in this regard in that so many people can come together and connect and really have a common bond over something. It really truly is a sanctuary in so many ways.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I think my favorite moments have been the incredible artists I have been able to open for. I opened for Lisa Loeb at a sold-out show at the Soiled Dove in Denver and it was such an incredible night and she is a wonderful artist and an even better person. I got to open for David Ryan Harris at Lost Lake (he plays guitar for John Mayer) and that was an incredible experience as well. Most recently I got to open for Tyler Hilton (from One Tree Hill), Marc Scibilia who is an incredible songwriter, and Greg Holden (he wrote Home by Phillip Phillips). I try not to boil it down to proudest moment, because not all shows are going to be these amazing sold out shows, some are going to be pretty barren and people are talking over you singing, so I try to collectively look at everything I have done and worked for and I feel pretty happy about how far I have come.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ianmahan.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianmahanmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ianmahantunes/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ianmahanmusic

Image Credit:
Harrison Neef, Jesse Spencer

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