Rising Music Star Karen Kosowski On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Music Industry

An Interview With Eden Gold

Collaborate more! I grew up with a very “Do It Yourself” mindset and it’s probably partly due to growing up a bit isolated in the suburbs of Winnipeg. It took me many years to finally start co-writing (instead of writing songs by myself) and it really opened up my world to new possibilities and I learned so much.

As a part of our interview series with leaders, stars, and rising stars in the music industry, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Karen Kosowski.

Karen Kosowski is a versatile multi-genre writer and producer based in Nashville, TN. Raised on a wide variety of pop, rock, classical and country music in the Canadian prairie city of Winnipeg, in the early 2000’s she packed up her car and drove herself, her instruments and her recording gear to Toronto where she spent many years creating both pop and country music before following her heart and relocating her studio to Nashville, Tennessee.

With her formal musical training, traditional songwriting background, multi-instrumentalist abilities, varied influences and two decades of producing, pop programming and engineering skills, she is a virtual Swiss army knife in both the writing room and recording studio. As such, she has contributed to a wide resume of hits — sometimes as a producer, sometimes as a writer, sometimes as a mixer, and sometimes all three at once.

Karen produced the majority of Mickey Guyton’s 3x Grammy nominated album “Remember Her Name” (Capitol Records Nashville), and is a co-writer on several of the album’s tracks. The album received a 2022 Grammy nomination for “Best Country Album”, and the title track (one of nine that Karen produced) was nominated for “Best Country Solo Performance” and “Best Country Song”. She also mixed two of the album’s tracks, including the critically acclaimed “What Are You Gonna Tell Her”. The album has received massive critical praise and was hailed by NPR as “one of the standout country-pop works of the modern era”. Previously Karen produced and co-wrote several tracks on Guyton’s “Bridges” EP (Capitol Records Nashville), which was hailed as one of the top country albums of 2020 by Billboard Magazine, American Songwriter Magazine and many more. For Mickey’s performance of the Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl LVI, Karen arranged the instrumentation and choir, and played piano in the final performance. She has accompanied Mickey on stage for many special occasions, including performances on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”, the 2021 American Music Awards, and the 2021 Grammy Awards.

Other recent highlights include co-writing and co-producing the Top 10 AC Radio single “Please Santa Please” from Pentatonix, co-writing the Gold Certified, #1 Canadian and Australian country single “What A Song Should Do” for Tim Hicks, co-writing the Platinum certified single “She Drives Me Crazy” and Gold certified single “Anthem” for Brett Kissel, and producing, mixing and co-writing the six-week #1 Australian Country Single “Memphis T-Shirt” for Melanie Dyer (Universal Music Australia). She produced and co-wrote the Gold Certified, #2 Canadian Country Single “Country Thunder” for the Washboard Union (for which she received a nomination for “Producer Of The

Year” at the 2020 Canadian Country Music Awards), and went on to produce 6 tracks on their new album “Everbound”, which won the 2020 CCMA award for “Roots Album Of The Year”. Karen produced/co-wrote/mixed the single “Home To Me” for Sony Nashville recording artist Ross Ellis, which charted top 10 on Sirius XM’s The Highway, and produced/co-wrote Ryan Langdon’s swagger-filled new EP “Lit In The Sticks” (Hidden Pony Records).

While her recent work has been primarily focused in the country music genre, pop music is close to Karen’s heart, and she previously produced/co-wrote the US Top 40 pop hit “Somebody To Love Me” for Tryon, and produced/mixed/co-wrote the Billboard AC Radio Top 5 “It Won’t Be Christmas” for Emma-Lee, which has become a perennial radio favorite in Canada, topping the recurrent charts every Christmas season since it’s release. She has recently produced, mixed and co-wrote cuts for pop artists Grey Zeigler, Daisy Clark and Caleb Hearn.

Karen loves collaborating on original tracks for feature films. “Hold On” (co-written with and produced/mixed for Mickey Guyton), was created specially for a heartbreaking scene in the Oscar-nominated movie “Breakthrough”, and “Where The Light Used To Be” (co-written with and produced/mixed for Peter Katz) was created for another emotional wrought scene, this time in Wango films’ action movie “88” (starring Christopher Lloyd), and it garnered her a 2016 Canadian Screen Awards nomination in the category of Achievement in Music — Best Original Song. She also produced/mixed “Without A Net”, a newly-written song by Diane Warren performed by Mickey Guyton, for the2020 feature film “Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story”.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story”. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Thanks for having me! I grew up in the suburbs of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I was the oldest of 3 kids, and we loved to stage our own little performances, whether they were music concerts or acting out or own little plays. I grew up taking piano lessons, and participating in every school band, choir, and musical that I could, so music was always pretty central in my life.

What inspired you to pursue a career in music, and how did your journey begin?

Around the age of 13 I started taking in an interest in writing music. At that point I really wasn’t that aware of all the “behind the scenes” roles that existed in music — like producers, or non-performing songwriters. I was inspired by seeing all the 90’s singer-songwriter artists who wrote and performed their own songs, so in high school I started a band in order to get out and start performing the songs I was writing. Our bass player had a TASCAM multitrack recorder in his basement that we used to record ourselves … so along with getting the bug for writing and performing, that’s when I really got the bug for DIY recording and it hasn’t stopped since. After that first band, I did my own solo artist project for many years during which I wrote and produced several of my own albums. That eventually lead to invitations to write and produce for other artist friends, which I quickly realized was my true passion.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

It was a pretty incredible experience getting to create the arrangement for Mickey Guyton’s live performance of the Star Spangled Banner at Super Bowl LVI. It was also hugely intimidating, because I’m Canadian and didn’t grow up knowing the song inside and out; I had to learn it first… and I know how important it is to Americans so I wanted to do my very best to honor it! Mickey brought me out to the game to perform the anthem with her live, and walking out on that field in front of the huge crowd at So-Fi Stadium and millions of people watching worldwide on television was a feeling like none other.

It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Well this is not technically a mistake as it was out of my control, but it’s a funny situation and I definitely learned something from it. Very early in my “serious artist music career” I moved to Toronto, and one of my first shows in town was performing at a tribute night to the late Jeff Buckley with several other local artists. I chose to cover his song “Lover You Should’ve Come Over” on the digital piano that the venue provided. Unfortunately about 1/3 of the way into the song, the piano started modulating in pitch, as if someone was rolling around the pitch wheel while my hands moved on the keyboard — it was randomly transposing the pitch of the entire song. I thought maybe I was losing my mind!! The only thing I could think of to do was to finish the song, and just follow the pitch of the piano with my voice (ie: changing key with it). The lesson I learned was how important it is for “the show to go on” — because the audience still loved it!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There have been a lot of friends, teachers and colleagues along the way who have been generous with their advice and support, but I’d have to say my husband needs the biggest kudos. We’ve been together over 20 years and his support and encouragement has been massive. He’s a session bass player, musical director and producer in his own right, and I’m so grateful to have someone in my life who really understands my world. Over the years he’s been literally everything from a collaborator to a trusted sounding board, to a long-distance driver, and even helping sell merch in the early 2000’s! We’ve faced so much together and I’m truly grateful.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I’m so excited about two current album projects that are very near and dear to my heart — Meghan Patrick’s “Golden Child” album and Mickey Guyton’s “House On Fire” album. They’re very different and I feel like creatively I’ve gotten to stretch out and have some real fun!!

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

Representation is important for young people to be able to see someone that looks like them doing a job that they might want to do, so they know it’s possible. Secondly, art tends to drive cultural change, so it’s important for our art to reflect the society it’s being made in… when art celebrates our common humanity, that can help break down barriers in our culture. Thirdly, representation is important because when you get different perspectives and points of view, it leads to richer art that can connect with a wider audience — and hey, that’s great for business!

As a successful music star, you’ve likely faced challenges along the way. How do you stay motivated? How do you overcome obstacles in your career?

When the business side of having a career in music gets challenging, and obstacles inevitably come up, what really helps me is staying connected to what I love about music itself, and how it makes me feel. Sometimes that means checking out new music that fascinates me and sometimes that means putting on an old record that brings back that feeling I had when I was 13 years old. I also try to remind myself that what’s meant for me will come to me! I try to get lots of rest and exercise, and meditate. Self care is so important!

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?

1. Collaborate more! I grew up with a very “Do It Yourself” mindset and it’s probably partly due to growing up a bit isolated in the suburbs of Winnipeg. It took me many years to finally start co-writing (instead of writing songs by myself) and it really opened up my world to new possibilities and I learned so much.

2. The work is hugely important but so are personal relationships. Be a good friend and person. Don’t ignore your friendships, reach out and maintain them! I still need to be reminded of this from time to time, because it’s easy to spend a lot of long hours alone in the studio… but every time I get together with a friend it always gives me much needed perspective, helps my mental health, and even sometimes leads to new creative ideas or collaborations! And when it comes down to collaborating and being creative, who do you wanna be in a room for hours on hours with, making music? Someone who’s a good hang and a good person!

3. Respect people who are more established / experienced and learn from what they have to offer, but don’t assume they have all the answers, because at some level we’re all still winging it. Plus the state of the music industry and the world are changing so rapidly, the rules are constantly being rewritten. Learn from those around you but don’t be afraid to forge your own path and think outside the box.

4. Be careful about comparing yourself to other people. It’s easy to see someone else’s highlight reel on Instagram and think you’re doing poorly in comparison but that does no one any good. It’s also easy to compare your song or voice to someone else’s, but if we all sounded the same how boring would that be?

5. Make sure you live life so you have something to write about! I tend to be a bit of a workaholic, but whenever I take a holiday, I come back feeling fired up and full of new ideas. I try to remind myself of this when I start feeling like I’m coming up dry, and try to take more breaks, go for a walk, watch a movie, spend time with friends, etc.

Can you share some insights into your creative process? How do you approach songwriting? How do you approach musical collaborations?

Having a great studio vibe with mood lighting and candles always helps to shift my brain into a more creative headspace, so I try to keep my studio super vibey at all times. I usually prepare for songwriting sessions by researching the artist I’m writing with/for, and gathering together any musical ideas (chord progressions, drum beats, melodies, guitar licks) that I feel could suit them… same goes for lyrical ideas like possible song titles, concepts, etc. When it comes to producing a master recording for an artist, I really try to get to know them in terms of their musical influences and what they’re drawn to, and that helps me find the right kind of sonic palette (instruments, tonality, etc) to suit their individual personality create their musical world.

Your music has resonated with so many fans worldwide. What do you believe sets your music apart?

Well it’s a little different for me because I’m not the artist nowadays…they have the fans, not me! But I feel incredibly lucky and excited every time I get to work with an artist that resonates with what I do as a writer and producer, and wants to collaborate on new music that they then take out into the world. We’re all just chasing that magic feeling and hoping that other people resonate with that!

How do you connect with your audience?

Again, since I’m behind-the-scenes I’m not the one that’s directly connecting with audiences now, but I do get to vicariously watch what happens when the music comes out. One of the most rewarding experiences is when I get to help an artist with a message that’s deeply personal to them… and those seem to be the songs that connect the deepest with audiences. Just last night I was scrolling through social media comments about Meghan Patrick’s song “Blood From A Stone” and it brought tears to my eyes reading about how so many of her fans said the song helped them to heal from long-standing trauma. Reactions like that just re-affirm my belief in the power of music.

With your busy schedule and demanding performances, how do you prioritize self-care and maintain a balance between your personal life and career in the music industry?

Work/life balance is a constantly moving target… there are definitely some ‘seasons’ where prioritizing self-care is extremely difficult but that’s also when it’s the most necessary. I try to maintain regular exercise, meditation, sleep, and nutrition (thank you meal-prep!). When I am between projects I try to rest and re-fill the creative ‘well’ by going out and living life, listening to new music, learning new things on my instruments and hanging out with friends!

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

In recent years I’ve become more interested in mindfulness and meditation because of the self-care and mental health benefits they offer. I use a meditation app as a guide and one of the recurring themes is compassion… compassion for self, compassion for all others around us. I believe if we all practiced more compassion like that, the world would be a lot better off.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Ooh that’s tough, there are a lot of inspiring people I’d love to meet! But it’d be really cool to have lunch with Sarah McLachlan… she was one of the very first singer-songwriters that inspired me to write songs of my own. Her ‘Fumbling Towards Ecstasy’ record is a masterpiece. I still remember the very first time I heard the haunting piano/vocal hidden track at the end of the album (remember those?) and how it inspired me to immediately write a song of my own that very day. I’d love to thank her!

How can our readers continue to follow your work online?

You can find me on instagram (@karenkosowski) and on my website at http://www.karenkosowski.com

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

Thanks so much! :)

About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.

Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold.