Youngstown's Collins singing again after accident
Katy Collins was living out her dream, playing music in Nashville when everything got put on hold. It's been a long process, but she is finally performing again and ready for round two.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Katy Collins was living out her dream, playing music in Nashville when everything got put on hold. It's been a long process, but she is finally performing again and ready for round two.
It's been four years since Katy Collins first packed up and headed for Nashville.
"I said, 'OK it's now or never.' Let's go down and give it a try or else I'll always wonder what if," said Collins.
Slowly, it all started coming together. She took it step-by-step, writing songs and making connections.
"It's all about networking down there. You got to go out, you got to see shows, you have to meet other artists and be in the industry," said Collins. "I did my homework."
It paid off. Katy signed a global distribution deal last February. In March, she released her debut EP. But less than two months later, everything she'd been working toward got put on hold.
"I got bit by a dog. Essentially, everything that was going and the momentum that we'd talked about, it just kind of came to a halt," said Collins. "Like, OK. The rug has just been pulled out from underneath me. Take a deep breath. Let's figure out how to get past this."
It wasn't easy. She wasn't allowed to talk or even smile at first, but patience paid off in Nashville and she was determined to make that happen again.
"My heart was set on getting my mouth and my lips stronger and working those muscles out and doing all the physical therapy that I needed to, just so that when I did come back I knew I could kind of pick up where I left off," said Collins.
It took more than seven months, but in January she played her first show since the accident and surprised even herself.
"I was a little nervous and not because I wasn't singing or anything like I had before. Just being up there for a few hours, I guess I was more concerned on how my stamina was going to be," said Collins.
That show went well, and more would follow. Later this month, she'll officially start her next chapter, going back to Nashville and back to her calling.
"I'm very grateful that I'm able to be doing it again all over with more experience in my back pocket and more life lived," said Collins.
Katy says she is hoping to record her second EP this summer, perhaps a live version, with a potential release date sometime this fall.
To learn more, you can check out her website at www.katycollinsmusic.com.
