Cheney High School graduate releases first single

Nashville, Tenn., to Cheney is quite the distance, but that didn't seem to stop Karen (pronounced like car-in) McCormick to reach for her dreams.

On March 15, the 2013 Cheney High School graduate hosted a celebration party at the Mason Jar for her first released single on iTunes called "Just a Song." She recorded the song in the Music City while she was in the area doing an internship with Warner Music Group, a label that represents artists like Blake Shelton and Ed Sheeran.

Her typical day at Warner Music would include compiling press and tour clips and strategizing ideas on how to get local media produced all over the country.

But McCormick felt inspired to write a new song after attending a show called "Song Suffragettes" in Nashville. It is a weekly entertainment program that features only women performing.

After the show, McCormick went back to her place and wrote the song that night within four hours.

"This song talks about how one song can have an impact on somebody," McCormick said. "It is so much more than just a song."

She played the song for her roommate, who told McCormick she knew somebody that could help produce the single. Around the same time, there was a song writing competition that had a grand prize of mentor session with country music artist Maren Morris. With a possibility of that accomplishment, McCormick decided to go through the whole process of finishing the song.

Even though she might not have won the grand prize, McCormick still followed through with the whole process of releasing the single. The song was wrapped up by December with McCormick having a goal to release it March.

McCormick has written a plethora of songs before this one, but this single was just different for her as it gave her the "aha moment" she had been waiting for when releasing music.

"This song has a theme that a lot of people can relate to and I am very proud of it" McCormick said.

McCormick decided that she wanted a celebration of her single coming out on music platforms and chose the Mason Jar because she had performed there before and they were super supportive about her accomplishment.

"This is a very significant turning point in my musical career," McCormick said. "I am very proud of it and I wanted to bring together people who have been supportive and say thank you for being on this journey with me."

"Just a Song" is now available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music and Google Play. More of McCormick's music can be found on her website, http://www.karenmccormickmusic.com.

Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.