Originally written as a deeply personal love song to her now husband — and recorded specifically to be the couple’s first dance at their wedding — “Win or Lose” has taken on a new meaning: Ali Auburn needs to make music, whether she succeeds or not.
Born and raised in southern New Jersey, Auburn started writing songs at six and was vocally trained by 13. When she taught herself how to play guitar, she’d turn her poems into songs. And though she never made the permanent move to Nashville, she spent a lot of time in her late-teens there, learning how to craft commercial songs.
“When I was 17, I thought I was going to be the next Taylor Swift,” Auburn said. “I was going down there, like ‘I’m a girl-with-a-guitar songwriter, get me a record deal,’ not really having any sense of identity or who I was. I was learning the craft, but losing my unique take as a songwriter because I was trying to fit the Nashville country radio sound.”
As she put it, the New Jersey in her didn’t quite fit with country music. However, working alongside Nashville-based producers and professionals helped refine her songwriting.
Throughout her career, she has opened for national acts including Chris Young, Zac Brown Band and Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary). Beyond music, she’s also the founder of Don’t Forget to Love Yourself (DFTLY), a music-led mental health initiative that promotes self-worth, confidence and suicide prevention among youth.
Auburn’s 2018 debut “My Own Way” reflected on personal growth, creative freedom and the courage to speak her truth. It’s a perspective that would’ve likely been lost had she stayed on the commercial country track.
Auburn is more pop songwriter than artist — not in sound, but in structure. Her songs follow clean, efficient architecture — verse, chorus, middle eight, hook — the bones of a pop song. She writes accessible, emotionally direct songs in a classic verse-chorus frame.
With “Win or Lose,” Auburn signals not just a return, but a rebirth. In the single’s cover, she’s a phoenix rising from the ashes, with kaleidoscopic pixels spreading beneath her wings. This imagery contrasts the bold, simple colors found on “My Own Way.”
“I feel like, symbolically, I am getting so much of myself back,” Auburn said. “I feel I have grown from that simple black, white, red color pattern to embracing all parts of who I am.”
In 2019, about a month before she was set to move to Nashville, a bout of anaphylactic shock nearly killed her. Auburn’s father found her unconscious on her apartment floor, likely triggered by a mix of exercise, heat exhaustion, inflammation, an autoimmune disorder and some trail mix. Had it not been for her father, she wouldn’t be here today.
There’s life before that moment, life after it. She started focusing on herself and took a nine-to-five job. Her health issues derailed Auburn’s songwriting, which she’d been honing since she was six.
But after a seven-year hiatus — of feeling creatively stifled, of not going to concerts to see others doing what she thought she’d given up on, of not writing — Auburn has the will to be creative again.
She plans to call her next album “Slaying Dragons,” inspired by conquering her fears. It’s expected in 2026.
“Prior to this iteration of my music, I had been sort of chasing validation with every performance,” Auburn said. “Seven years without any validation doing music is sort of the confirmation I need to be doing this whether or not people care. It’s a switch from ‘I want other people to like me’ to ‘I’m doing this for me.’”
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Ali Auburn
When: 6 p.m. Nov. 19
Where: Jayne’s on Main, 90 S. Main St., Miamisburg
Cost: Free
More info: aliauburn.com
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