McKenzie Cook

Age: 19

By Julie Young

McKenzie Cook says there is no right way to pen a song, provided you first find your voice Although the For t Wayne native has been singing ever since she was able to talk and can play piano by ear, she only became serious about writing her own music when she was vocally sidelined for several months

“ Throughout high school, I would write down ideas here and there, but it never turned into anything I didn’t become passionate about songwriting until last summer when I had surger y for polyps on my vocal chords. Not being able to sing for many months made me realize how much I needed to get out of my comfor t zone, ” she said.

Cook says that anything can inspire: a personal experience, a person she has met, or a place she has visited. Once the idea is in her head, she sits at a piano and plays with a chord progression, singing whatever lyrics strike her in the moment. After ward, she will listen to the result, keep what she likes and discard what she doesn’t until she massages the measures into something she’s happy with

“(Most) of the songs I write end up being slower, more emotional songs because that is what feels most authentic and moving to me, ” she said.

For this For t Wayne native and aspiring singer/songwriter, it doesn’t hur t that Cook, a music business major at Belmont University, currently lives in the Music Capital of the World: Nashville. Between per forming oppor tunities, concer ts, connec tions and resources, she finds herself constantly immersed in the music industr y with lots of oppor tunity for hands-on experience She says from attending writers’ rounds, Grammy U and CMAedu events and meeting people she’s always looked up to in music, she is constantly honing her craft

Although she is still relatively new to songwriting and wants to hold off publishing her music until she finds her place in the industr y, she hopes to have something recorded and in the vault by the end of the year

“I have seen a huge shift in my motivation to consistently write and prac tice. I was always afraid to write songs in the past because I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. But my involvement in the industr y has made me realize there is no right way to write a song You only have to find your voice and share your passion, ” she said “I want to write with the purpose of bringing people joy and hope, and make sure I am ser ving others through my music ” a