For as long as Kate Shermach can remember, music has been a part of her life.
"I just somehow connected with it," Shermach, 51, said.
She grew up listening to music in church, along with the wide variety of albums and artists that her parents played on the turntable in their living room. As she got older and started singing, performing and playing music, it became an increasingly central part of her life. That continued into adulthood. The mother of two and her husband, Chris, love playing music.
Over the past couple of years, music has become an even more crucial part of the family's dynamics.
In 2016, Shermach's daughter, Brittany, developed encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. Some types of encephalitis have high mortality rates and can cause lasting health problems.
Brittany, 18 at the time, was in a coma for more than a week. One day during this time, the Shermachs sat in their daughter's hospital room, playing a guitar and singing to her. The following day, Brittany awoke from the coma, and since then has recovered.
In the meantime, Chris built a recording studio in the basement of the family's home in Osceola, Wis. To process their experience, the couple formed a progressive rock band called Tuesday Morning. They wrote and produced an album titled "The Awakening," which was released in November 2017.
"We hope that as time goes on, more and more people discover the different parts of the album that might speak to situations in their lives, or give them some inspiration," Shermach said.
