Karen's Bio
Karen McGough Vocals Songwriter I was born in Texas City, TX in August, 1969. My family stayed in the Houston area until I was six when we relocated to Cleveland, MS in the heart of the Mississippi River Delta. That’s where I grew up. I’ve always loved music ... ALWAYS! My first real taste was playing the Bb clarinet as a seventh grader, then moving on to Bb Bass clarinet quickly, and finally to the Eb contra-bass clarinet which was a school-issued horn in high school... apparently they are fairly rare ... I played the only one in a high school concert band in a tri-state region. Playing that granddaddy horn won me a little scholarship in a symphonic wind ensemble my freshman year in college at Delta State University. That fizzled fast! Everything that had been cool about high school changed quickly for me in college. I’m so grateful now looking back at that organized influence in my life ... it taught me a lot of discipline. Lord knows I had my share of restless energy the rest of the time. Somewhere, early in my youth, my family recognized my love for singing and it began to be slowly fostered. I have a terrific family. My Momma has a beautiful voice ... it’s not trained, but it’s pure and sweet and she loves to sing. My brother is a music buff too, but his interests manifest in the technological side of it all. My Daddy should have been a music critic ( I mean it as a compliment ). He’s got a great ear and a sensitivity to what sounds good. Daddy likes to tell the story of me visiting my grandparents’ church in Louisiana at about age four. Apparently I interrupted the pastor during his sermon to ask if I could sing “ Jesus Loves Me ”. I was obliged and I guess that created a monster, because I haven’t quit singing since. When I was just a teenager my Pop bought me a bunch of karaoke cassettes that are full of old gospel standards, most of which I had never heard. He told me to learn them and make him a tape ... "that was what he wanted to hear me sing". Now I understand all of that was for more than his own purposes ... it was his way of ministering to me ... of planting a seed that’s still there today ( I still have those tapes ... and I know every word ). Everyone in my family has always encouraged me to sing. They’ve all sat around at family gatherings and listened to “little concerts” that my Daddy always devised and manipulated. I always tease that he’s my biggest fan. We still listen to me singing the Texas A&M fight song on an old cassette tape when I was just a toddler. He put a microphone in my hand before I could even talk good. He’s the one who gently pushed me into voice lessons when I had no interest, but he saw the potential. My parents also drove me two hours to Memphis, TN to have sessions with an outstanding vocal coach, Bob Westbrook. I’ll never forget that guy ... he was a crazy character. He got things out of my voice that I had no idea I was capable of. My parents bought me my first Karaoke machine about this time ... they paid way too much for it when we probably didn’t have the money at all. Understand that it was one of the first of its kind ... I still have it ... it has a double cassette deck and an eight-track deck in it ( maybe that dates me ) ... I didn’t even know what a cd was back then. I sang at many different venues while growing up, from state fairs to Miss Mississippi feeder pageants, and from sorority song leader to local talent competitions. The one thing that didn’t get better was my confidence ... I’ll address that a little later. So back to DSU. I didn’t do much right there ... I allowed myself way too much independence and freedom so my college career suffered for it. I was an art major, studying graphic design and photography, and when I wasn’t foolishly playing too much, I truly loved my art classes. Art has been another lifelong friend of mine ... it still is. I still paint and create and love the beauty this life has to offer. I sang in college too. The group was called " Renaissance" and it was a fascinating opportunity chocked full of hard work, discipline and great music. Our mentor and director, Gene Ayers, was a rock! I learned so much from everyone involved ... they were all amazingly talented. Then in my junior year I met my husband ... a little sooner than when I thought I would, but nonetheless, I fell head-over-heels in love with him. We eloped and got married and school ( and music ) was history for a while. There begins my career as a wife and mom. Max and Josh came early in our marriage and our little family began to move quite a bit to further my husband’s budding career. We relocated from Mississippi to Pennsylvania, from Pennsylvania to Texas, from Texas to Puerto Rico, and then back to Texas again all in five years. Whoa! None of this was part of my plan either. I love that saying “If you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans!” . He’s had some great giggles at my expense over the years. During those five years I had the opportunity to sing professionally and I loved every minute of it. I was a bit of a novelty in both Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico because of my country roots. Everyone seemed to love the “southern drawl” that I couldn’t turn off to save my soul. “ Crazy ”, by Patsy Cline, was my specialty and I always had requests to sing her songs. I began to explore classic standards and Big Band songs during this time as well, and I’m certain this is when I began to “croon”. From my perspective, that means the swelling and surging emotion that comes from loving, believing and feeling a song in my soul ... from understanding it so deeply, that I can’t vocally hold back what I’m experiencing. That’s the pinnacle right there! When I open my eyes at the end of a song and I know I just sang it with complete heart and soul for all the right reasons ... it’s the best feeling ... to get so carried away by music, that I don’t want it to end because it’s so gratifying and it feels so right! I think my confidence in my vocal ability was boosted a lot during those years. Earlier in my singing I had always suffered from a terrible case of anxiety when performing. It was so difficult at times that I would feel physically ill, and it would often cause me to struggle with executing the performance well ... that was always so disappointing to me. Settling back in Texas again, I finally set my goals on finishing school ... it was unfinished business. I enrolled in Texas Christian University in the Interior Design program with a minor in Interior Architectural Lighting. With a much more mature perspective of the world and an understanding of the need for a good education, I was a very different sort of student. I had a husband and two little boys at home and I was bent on finishing and finishing strong! It was a hard four years, but in 1999 I graduated magna cum laude and felt such a huge sense of relief. However, what I gained from my time at TCU was so much more profound than a degree. I loved the mandatory History of Judaism, Christianity and religion courses I took. I had been to church sporadically in my life, but I had never dived so deeply into Biblical history before. God began working on my head during this time ... He was softening my headstrong independence and my "I-can-do-it-all-on-my-own" attitude. I had new Christian friends in my classes and I admired them and how they lived their lives ... I learned so much from them. One of them invited my family to visit her church. To make a long story shorter than it is, we visited, I was hooked, and my life took a turn in a very positive direction. It was the first time in my life that I attended church regularly and eagerly. All of the faith-based concepts that I had been so blasé about began to suddenly make really good sense. I asked the Lord for forgiveness for taking His sacrifice for granted for so long, and I made a commitment to rededicate my existence to one of His purposes. Then God began to work on my heart and my faith. In 1998, my husband survived cancer, but on the heels of that difficult time came a true miracle. Believing that no more children were possible, we were blessed to add a precious little girl to our family. Without going into too many personal details, I’ll just say that Anna is a living testament to Divine Power and Grace and anything really is possible with the Lord in your life. Never doubt it. About four years ago I met Steph. I had no idea at the time that I would be doing what I am today. I guess that really is where my beginning in MRB all started, because our friendship came first. I hadn’t sung for quite some time ( school, kids, life etc... ). My family had just found a new church home. I was considering getting involved in the Praise Band but I was extremely intimidated by the prospect. Church was just about the only place I had never sung ( unless you count the “ Jesus Loves Me ” incident ). I met Steph at the local gym, found out she was just joining the same church and had just become involved in the music ministry ... she encouraged me to come to the next rehearsal and the rest is history. I’ve been leading worship with her ever since. All of the members of MRB come from various aspects of the music ministry from the same church. We’ve been through a lot in the past four years. As with any family, a church family has it’s rocky times. We’ve plowed through them all. Magnolia Rose Band has been a shining light when so much else was uncertain. I’m stronger for it ... it’s comforting to know that during all the good and bad times, I’ve been about the Lord’s work. At times, I really have difficulty believing all that has happened in the last year and a half. I would love to chronicle the making of “The Road” from it’s conception to it’s release, but I fear this would become too lengthy. I’ll save that story for its very own page on this website. What I can say is I’ve been hugely blessed by the whole process. I still need to pinch myself sometimes. If this is work, then I’ve got the best job in the whole wide world! I can’t speak highly enough regarding the strength of character and the moral values of each member of Magnolia Rose Band ... they are all simply the best and I love them dearly. I love our music too! I really do! I can’t pick my favorite song on the album ... I’m so attached to each one. It’s because of where they come from ... from the heart ... they come from a safe and good place. I guess my voice probably adds what I would call “bottom” or “depth” to the vocals. I’ve heard it described as powerful and rich. But I also try to stay true to my beginnings ... I’m not ashamed of the twang that comes with being a Southerner and I’ve learned to embrace having an unusually low register for a girl. I think my voice adds a little “grit” and “soul” to our sound too. I hope it’s worthy of those adjectives ... those Southern roots still abound. I still sing “torch songs” ... they just have a significant message now. I know that the passion that I have for what we’re doing comes from the Lord. I have a huge desire to disciple to others and MRB’s sole purpose is evangelism. A huge plus is that I don’t have those anxiety issues much anymore ... not the way I used to. When I began to use my gifts for God, He began to give them back tenfold. I promise. I’m so thankful ... I want to share it all. ;-) "Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness." ~Maya Angelou "Music is what feelings sound like." ~Author Unknown "Are we not formed, as notes of music are, for one another, though dissimilar?" ~Percy Bysshe Shelley
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