Priscilla Ahn bio

Priscilla Ahn notes
Born: Georgia, raised in Reading and Bernville
(PA)

Age: 26

Graduated: Tulpehocken Junior-Senior High School, 2002

Residence: Laurel Canyon, Calif.

Parents: Harry and Kay Hartranft, Bernville

Achievements: Professional singer/songwriter; touring nationally this year, including appearances with Jakob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson. Her debut CD, "A Good Day," was released June 10 on Blue Note Records

In her debut CD "A Good Day" on Blue Note Records (released last month) and in conversation, Priscilla Ahn has a sweet, pure voice and a friendly manner. But underneath is an iron will and a brave spirit that have driven her to take big risks. And for her, taking those risks has led to big rewards.

Ahn, now living near Los Angeles, grew up as Priscilla Hartranft in Bernville, the daughter of Harry and Kay Hartranft. She was born in Georgia while her father served is the U.S. Army, and moved to Reading as an infant, where she later attended Thirteenth and Union Elementary School. She graduated from Tulpehocken Area Junior-Senior High School in 2002.

In a telephone conversation recently, Ahn said her interest in music started early, and was encouraged by her mother, a teacher in the Penn Bernville Elemenatary School as well as a pianist and vocalist.

"I started singing very young," she said. "My mom helped me sing in church. I sang my first solo at 8."

Around the same time, she started learning piano from her mother, but "I didn't like being told what to do, so I picked it up mostly on my own."

When she was in fourth grade at Thirteenth and Union, Ahn started learning violin at school and played in the school orchestra. When the family moved to Bernville, however, the school district had no string program. Instead, she played xylophone and glockenspiel in the school band.

She also took private voice lessons and participated in the school chorus, as well as district and regional chorus.

Her father, a crane operator with a strong interest in classic folk/rock, urged her to pick up the guitar, but it wasn't until she heard one of her friends at school play the guitar that she became interested.

"All I had was a Christmas song book with guitar chords," she said. "So once I learned those, I started writing little tunes of my own to help me learn. I discovered that I really like that. I was always into reading, creative writing and poetry, so this became a new way for me to express myself."

Soon Ahn was writing songs, and performing at open mikes at Borders Book Store in Wyomissing. Her father helped her find gigs at local spots like the Brass Lantern in their old neighborhood, and at the Blue Marsh Canteen.

"I did a mix of my own stuff and covers, because people wanted to hear stuff they knew," she said. "So I did some Neil Young songs, and Jewel - whatever I was learning at the time." {read more}