Conventional wisdom says performers have to leave small Midwestern towns for bigger markets in order to pursue a career in music.

Aairo is taking a different path. The singer-songwriter grew up in Warren before moving to Cincinnati while in high school. He moved to Atlanta, where he worked as an audio engineer, but he came back to Warren to make his first full-length album, “Shadows in Wonderland.”

“I started it in my bedroom at my mom’s house, and I worked on it for the past two years,” he said.

“Shadows in Wonderland” will be available on all streaming services starting Friday, and Aairo will celebrate its release and his 25th birthday with a show Saturday at Modern Methods Brewing Company.

“In a big city like Atlanta, it’s very difficult to make a name for yourself starting out if you don’t have connections already,” he said. “Moving back here, I found there’s more opportunities for everything. There’s been a lot more opportunities for me to perform live and collaboration opportunities as well, to work with other local creatives in the area. I felt like my career has taken some large steps forward since moving back.”

The album’s title is inspired by “Alice in Wonderland.”

“I named it ‘Shadows in Wonderland’ essentially because in a place or a space where everything seems perfect, where everything seems mystical and magical, there’s the polar opposite of that lurking on the other side,” Aairo said. “I use that metaphor to describe a relationship, essentially like a relationship from surface level can look perfect on the outside, but if you knew the inner workings of everything, there is difficulty.

“This album is basically taking the listener from the perfect kind of magical feeling of being in a relationship to all the other emotions that can be encapsulated in that relationship.”

The singer-songwriter draws inspiration from artists ranging from Bill Withers to Willow Smith. He plays every note on “Shadows in Wonderland” — guitar, piano, bass and drums. He mixed and mastered the tracks as well.

Saturday’s release show will be a solo performance with Aairo on guitar, vocals and loops recorded live. He said he’ll use prerecorded percussion tracks for a couple of songs, but other than that everything will be live.

“It’s almost like inviting people into the production process, because the way that I’m playing it live is pretty much how I produced the song,” he said.

For those who can’t make it to the release show, Aairo plans to release a live performance video of one of the songs later this year. A CD and / or vinyl release of “Shadows in Wonderland” is planned for 2025, along with a mini tour.

If you go …

WHAT: Album release party for Aairo’s “Shadows in Wonderland”

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Modern Methods Brewing Company, 125 David Grohl Alley, Warren

HOW MUCH: No cover charge