Member Article

Entrepreneurial Gateshead jazz singer launches vocal coaching startup

Thirty year old Kathryn Lowdon from Gateshead has launched her jazz singing career and vocal coaching business after being cured of deafness she had suffered for years.

Since she has been able to hear her own voice she has gone from strength to strength and trained with top American and Canadian vocal coaches including Greg Enriquez, Spencer Welch, Jeffrey Skouson and Guy Babusek, protégés of Michael Jackson’s singing mentor, Seth Riggs.

She has even sung on a Mississippi River Boat and with the New Hope Gospel Choir in New Orleans which was the perfect experience for her singing style.

Kathryn said: “I had always wondered if I could sing, as my grandparents were jazz singers but it wasn’t until my hearing problem was sorted out that I found out I could. The strange thing is I sound very different to how I look. Since my hearing has improved I have been on such an amazing journey. I am launching my own vocal coaching business and my first EP. I can’t quite believe it.”

Her hearing problem was identified after her friend, Sam Forster heard Kathryn’s iPod playing in her bag yet she had not been aware of it being on. After being examined by an audiologist at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, she was diagnosed with congenital deafness and given digital hearing aids.

She said: “I can still remember the first time I heard a crisp packet being rustled and car keys jangling so to be able to take pleasure in my own singing is a dream come true. My first voice tutor in the UK, Anna Middleton spotted my ability and encouraged me to go to Canadian vocal coach, Spencer Welch, to develop and I am so grateful for that initial support, it set me on the right road.”

She is now putting the finishing touches to her self-penned EP which will be released in May as well as building up her vocal coaching business. In her coaching she uses the advice and tips she has gathered from the international singing specialists who have helped her own career.

Kathryn is a member of the Institute of Vocal Advancement and trains people by giving them specific voices exercises best suited to them, rather than teaching a style, it relies on muscle memory techniques.

Richard Myers, of Transmit Start-Ups has extensive experience of the music business and is Kathryn’s business coach through Generator’s coaching programme. He said: “Kathryn’s story is very inspirational. She has overcome massive odds to launch her career and business. It is great for people who want to learn to sing to have such an experienced vocal coach in our region.”

Further information is available on her facebook page Kathryn Lowdon Vocal Studios and her website www.klvs.co.uk. Information on Transmit Start-Ups in available on www.transmitstartups.co.uk.

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