Gossin brothers’ carefully planned music path led to Gloriana

• By JOHN WIRT
• Music writer
• Published: Oct 30, 2009

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With soaring choruses, four singers who share lead vocals and perform precision harmonies, new country group Gloriana follows the tradition of such great vocal groups as the Beatles, Eagles and Fleetwood Mac.

Releasing its self-titled CD debut in August, Gloriana recently completed six months of arena shows with Taylor Swift. Beginning Thursday at the Baton Rouge River Center, Gloriana joins another country star, Alan Jackson, for three more arena dates. And come Memorial Day weekend 2010, Gloriana, Swift, Kenny Chesney and more are among the acts appearing at the first Bayou Country Superfest at Tiger Stadium. 

Gloriana’s harmonies originate with Mike and Tom Gossin. The brothers grew up with music-loving parents in a farming community in upstate New York. Contrary to popular opinion in the South about the North, the Gossins’ area of New York state loves country music.  

“The minute you say New York, people think New York City,” 24-year-old Mike Gossin said from the road in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “‘There’s no country music up there!’ But the place we grew up in, our village, had a Blimpie Sub shop and a gas station, all surrounded by farms. Country music was very popular there.”

The Gossin family lived in an 1800s farm house and converted a former milk house into a recording studio and practice space. With no neighbors for miles, they sang and played as loud as they wanted. 

Mike and Tom Gossin sang harmony with their older brother, Steve. Mike and Tom, especially, were Beatles fans. The Fab Four’s influence grew even stronger after they moved to Wilmington, N.C., a carefully selected stepping stone to Nashville, Tenn. 

“When you play restaurants, bars and stuff like that, people request Beatles songs here and there,” Mike Gossin said. “Singing those songs and learning their harmonies really inspired us. And bands like Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles, those are inspirations for Gloriana.”

The Gossins paid dues, earning $50 to $100 five nights a week in Wilmington, an arts-appreciating coastal city and film-production hub, not to mention comparatively warm spot next to cold upstate New York.

“It was tough, the typical story,” Gossin said of his Wilmington years. “But Tom and I worked as hard as we possibly could. We got better and made more fans. As long as we could get by, we were happy.”

The brothers stashed a large percentage of their earnings into their Nashville fund.

“It took us a while to save enough money to make that move,” Gossin said. “And you can’t just show up in Nashville and start playing shows. It’s hard to get in.”

With backup funds in place, the Gossins moved to Music City in 2007.

“We showed up and it was meant to be,” Gossin said.