Today’s spotlight artist has been in the music industry for over a decade; however, for the first time, Mike Gossin is stepping into his artistry as a solo artist. We caught up with the singer-songwriter to chat about his story, his Gloriana days, and where he is headed.

“I grew up with two older brothers, in upstate New York in the Adirondack mountain region. I was raised on an 1800s farmhouse on some acreage,” began the singer. “It was a cool way to grow up as a kid, being outdoors a lot, and helping my dad maintain the land, bonfires, four-wheeling, and all that stuff.” As a young child, Gossin recalls having a love for music, even starting his first band in middle school.

“The rule in our house was that you had to play one instrument and one sport, as long as you were under mom or dad’s roof. You got to pick which one you wanted, but you had to do it, so I started on the piano, I was like four years old, taking lessons, and then that turned into drum set lessons when I was like seven. When I was about eleven, my older brother taught me how to play my first guitar chords, and the rest was history,” shared the singer.

Throughout his upbringing, Gossin was a fan of both country and rock music, drawing inspiration from both genres in creation of his own sound. “There’s a country station in my hometown called Big Frog 104. […] I grew up listening to that station. It’s a small town, so the DJs are friends with my mom. My dad was actually a truck driver and a college radio DJ, so he always had music playing in our house growing up. There was always a soundtrack going,” he stated. Adding, “I remember in high school when Keith Urban’s ‘Golden Road’ came out, that did it for me. I’ve always kind of been a fan of country and rock, and I thought Keith Urban just mastered that lane.” Gossin also shares a love for artists like Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson.

The Turning Point:

Gossin’s love for music was a mainstay in his life, as he graduated a year early from high school to pursue music. “I had my own high school band, and we were getting some momentum going. It started kind of locally, then I ended up moving down to North Carolina. My brothers were going to college there, so I stayed and performed in North Carolina five nights a week for like ten years,” shared the artist.

Eventually that led to Gossin and his brother forming a band with Cheyenne Kimball and Rachel Reinert called Gloriana. For several years, Gloriana graced the stages and won hearts of country music lovers everywhere. “That led into Gloriana which was crazy, and I went to Nashville, and it was such a cool journey going through all of that.”

When Gloriana played their last show in 2016, Gossin found himself at a crossroads. “I had a publishing deal at that time with one of the majors, and I finished that deal out for about a year, and that deal was up. My brother was moving back to North Carolina with his wife and I think I just needed to kind of step away for a minute,” he shared. “It was such a crazy rollercoaster, almost a decade on the bus, living our dreams, amazing fans, and country radio, and awards, and getting to see the world, it was just a lot.”

Gossin headed back to North Carolina where he got reacquainted with his musical roots. “I started playing solo acoustic shows. I wanted to go back to the beginning and kind of start over really, like how did this all start, where was my heart at the beginning of all of this. […] I wanted to rediscover the magic and the passion that I had in the beginning,” he shared.

After playing again in North Carolina, Gossin eventually found the inspiration to begin writing music again. “It came naturally, it wasn’t forced. There was a good bit of time between playing those gigs and being ready to sit down and write some songs.” With the support and encouragement of his good friends and fellow industry connections, Gossin was finally ready to pursue a bucket-list goal and create a solo-project.

Today:

Flash forward to today, Gossin’s first solo-project is officially here. His record, Coming Home is an impressive body of work that the singer created through hard work and determination. “In this process for this new stuff, I really wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to try new stuff, and write, sing, produce, and play almost all the instruments on my own solo project. I set out as a goal of mine to try to make that happen.”

Each of the eight songs on the project speak to Gossin’s signature sound and growth as an artist. All created in a home studio, the project is a special gem. “It was just a homegrown, authentic test, and fun project about what has been going on in my life through these songs,” shared Gossin, adding, “I wanted to stay true to myself and the Gloriana fans and the country music fans that have supported us over the years, and I wanted to shape the sound to pay tribute to those songs, but also where I’m at now, a kind of new and evolved sound.”

Coming Home is just the start for Gossin as he embarks on his solo career. The record is a true coming home for the established artist, and fans can look forward to the singer continuing to crank out new music. Gossin is also hopefully about playing the songs live sometime soon. Stay tuned!

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