Sarah Cowan has been writing music for as long as she can remember.
“It helps me break down and identify, for example, what I’m feeling,” said the 21-year-old Granville native. “I’m very passionate about the world, and I love people, and I want people to know they’re heard. I want there to be a message for everything.”
To ensure that a message exists for everyone, Cowan recorded and released their debut album “out of order” in June. The alternative pop album is available on online music platforms.
“Every time I look for that song to describe my emotion, I can’t find it,” she said. “I try to make the song that can describe my emotions, because maybe someone else feels that too.”
She also brings her own unique perspective to her writing. Cowan, who plays piano and drums, is legally blind after losing sight completely in his right eye and partially in his left eye when he was 8 years old. She said the real cause of her vision loss is not known.
Cowan had headaches for two to three years as a child and finally passed out one night. A CT scan revealed Cowan had severe hydrocephalus, an abnormal buildup of fluid in the brain. In preparation for surgery, Cowan underwent an MRI which showed a benign, inoperable tumor in his brainstem. The tumor, Cowan said, puts pressure on nerves that impact muscle movement.
“If I were to somehow have it removed, like (with) radiation, it wouldn’t bring my vision back,” she said.
After her surgery to place, divert and drain the fluid, doctors told Cowan and her family that she was losing her sight.
Cowan lost peripheral vision in his left eye. As a result, she can only see straight ahead and objects that are in the center of her eye line. Her vision loss has not progressed further and has been stable since 2009, she said.
Being in public places, especially crowded ones, can be difficult because Cowan’s disability is invisible to others.
“Lately I’ve been wearing sunglasses with my cane because I can’t take it anymore,” she said. “It’s so stigmatized to the point that I have to watch the part to be the part.”
She continued at Granville Schools through high school, then moved on to Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus, where she graduated in 2019. In high school, she played drums in the marching band during three years.
She was taking college classes in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic caused all classes to be moved online. Cowan said it was difficult to get the housing she needed and she chose not to return to school in the fall of 2020.
After years of writing, she released her first song in 2020 after her older brother, Daniel, told her that she was the only one who could change her life and that she had to do something.
“He was the one who really pushed me. He was like, you’re the only one who can do this. And I’m privileged to have a family that was able to kind of say, ‘Let’s see what you can do,'” said Cowan, who now resides in Columbus.
She spent two years struggling to find the right producer to help her make her dreams a reality, but she finally made it in North Carolina, producer Jonathan Philippou. The pair spent 16 months completing the 12-song album, which was written by Cowan and recorded at Dreamcatchers Recording Studio in Reynoldsburg.
Now that her album is out, Cowan performs at local venues in central Ohio whenever she can. She is set to perform at the 5th annual Newark Pride Festival on October 1, held at the Canal Market District.
Cowan said she was inspired by singer Ariana Grande and hopes to make songwriting and performing her full-time career.
“I want it to be something that I can live off financially. I want it to be my job,” she said. “I want to be a global artist. It’s my dream.”
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Twitter: @MariaDeVito13
