Singer-songwriter Megan Wren didn’t actually start writing her own songs until December — it was just the next step in her music career.
Wren has always been deeply immersed in music. During elementary and middle school in Loveland, Ohio, she sang in choir. At age 11, she picked up the guitar and taught herself to play. Her parents, neither of them musicians, witnessed her passion for the instrument and signed her up for lessons at Buddy Roger’s Music in nearby Cincinnati.
“When your kid attaches to something, (the parents) support it,” Wren said.
Now, Wren, a sophomore studying music production and audio engineering, is taking her acoustic music to the next level. Alongside fellow OU student Emma Schultz, Wren will perform at Donkey Coffee & Espresso, 17 ½ W. Washington St., on Saturday evening.
Wren said she had no real reason for starting to write her own music. She said it just felt right.
“It’s really starting to take shape now,” she said.
Wren previously only played acoustic covers of her influences — classic rock icons like The Beatles and Queen and folk favorites like Ryan Adams and Nikki Lane — but she now blends her own songs with others’.
The Beatles especially impacted Wren, who grew up listening to the “Fab Four” as a child.
“They’re kind of addicting, the more you learn about them,” Wren said of the band.
Wren has covered a variety of The Beatles’ music, ranging from the tranquil “Let It Be” to the exuberant “Yellow Submarine,” but no song has made as much impact as “Imagine,” released in 1971 by former Beatle John Lennon. Wren said when she first began to perform “Imagine” in high school, audience members would thank her after the show for playing it.
“That song has meant so much to people,” Wren said.
Wren and Schultz, a sophomore studying media and social change, both grew up in the Cincinnati area, but the two did not meet until just before their freshman year at Ohio University. The two women were in a group message together with other students from the School of Media Arts & Studies and eventually met in classes that year.
Saturday will not be the first time the two acoustic singers perform on the same bill — the pair performed together over the summer at SharonFest in Sharonville.
“She’s a really cool person and a great musician, and it’s really great to play with her,” Schultz said about Wren.
Schultz only recently began performing above the amateur level. Saturday’s show will be her second performance in Athens — her first was at an open mic night.
Like Wren, Schultz’s music focuses on acoustic guitar and is heavily influenced by folk.
“I guess you could say ‘singer-songwriter,’ but I don’t really like that term,” she said regarding her music.
Schultz is only starting out and is just beginning to write her own songs, though she covers everything from the Avett Brothers to PWR BTTM. Her next step is writing more music.
Wren isn’t sure what her next step is, though she is aiming to release an extended play before she graduates.
“If I can make a career from music … that would be the best,” she said.
Wren said she feels all musicians want a career, though.
“Everybody wants to be a musician, everybody wants to tour,” she said.
Still, Wren played more shows last year than ever, and she doesn’t plan on stopping soon.
“If it keeps going, no complaints,” she said.
