Speaker 1: I am so excited I have Cassidy Pope joining me
Speaker 1: on this podcast. She won The Voice. You probably recognize
Speaker 1: her from the Voice. She's partnered up with Pitfull. She
Speaker 1: had a number one hit with Chris Young, Thank of You.
Speaker 1: She went on tour Chris Young. She recently went back
Speaker 1: on the Voice and was a mentor. Cassidy Pope is amazing.
Speaker 1: She has been through so much. Her story is incredible.
Speaker 1: She's beautiful inside and out, and she is about to
Speaker 1: blow it up with all of her new music. So
Speaker 1: get excited. Here. She is Carol Love. She's a queen
Speaker 1: of talking. Got the Carol Love. Hey y'all, it's Caroline
Speaker 1: Hobby and welcome to my show, Get Real from the
Speaker 1: Music city capital of the World. In each episode, I
Speaker 1: get the real story from the most inspiring interesting people
Speaker 1: in Nashville, Tennessee. I have done everything in the music
Speaker 1: entertainment industry. I was in the trio Stealing Angels with
Speaker 1: two top fifty country charting songs, a finalist and runner
Speaker 1: up on season twenty two and season twenty four of
Speaker 1: The Amazing Race. You can currently catch me on cmt
Speaker 1: S hit show I Love Kelly Pickler. I am an entertainment,
Speaker 1: news correspondent and host for the TV show Nashville Insider
Speaker 1: and my podcast Get Real with Caroline Hobby was featured
Speaker 1: on iTunes New and Noteworthy and charted on iTunes Top
Speaker 1: two Podcast. I'm also married to the smoking hot front
Speaker 1: man Michael Hobby of the number one chart topping band
Speaker 1: A Thousand Horses. So buckle up and get ready to
Speaker 1: get real with me, Caroline Hobby. Welcome to my show.
Speaker 1: He see you. Thanks for coming. Top party. Yeah, there's
Speaker 1: some Oh my gosh, excited gys. Oh are you guys
Speaker 1: gonna chat today? They're probably going to join us. They
Speaker 1: will most likely be sitting with us. Oh, they take
Speaker 1: themselves all right, all right? Okay's Cuffy and River you've met.
Speaker 1: You've got that dock part hanging out. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: just flew a boy's right? Boys cut? Both of them
Speaker 1: are boys. I'm surrounded by man. Don't do that. I
Speaker 1: feel like you can hang with don't jump. I feel
Speaker 1: like you can put all the bit in their place. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, years of traveling with boys. It's I can
Speaker 1: handle it. Okay. Coffee, Okay, thank you. I've been here
Speaker 1: for almost a year. Are you say it's crazy. I'm
Speaker 1: feeling very at home now, like nesting. Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: my first house. I've always lived in apartments or condo
Speaker 1: and this feels like mine. It's so good. Oh my,
Speaker 1: you're like a grown up all the way, like an adult.
Speaker 1: You're totally adult. Take community and it's so great. Thank you. Actually,
Speaker 1: I had a really cool thing with Wayfair. They helped
Speaker 1: me out a little bit the ball. They're great. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then I mean just all from Wayfare, not everything,
Speaker 1: not everything, but it's like little bits and pieces and
Speaker 1: that that mantle is just like an electric thing. Just
Speaker 1: flip on your pie, flip it on. I don't need
Speaker 1: it right now because it's hot, but yeah, everything, I
Speaker 1: just kind of threw it all together. It's like I
Speaker 1: don't really think about it too much. Just casual picture President.
Speaker 1: I mean that's normally. That was all the president. That
Speaker 1: was for. That was for a charity event with It
Speaker 1: was like the Bushes charity event for One America Appeal
Speaker 1: and it's it was for like the hurricane relief in
Speaker 1: Texas and I got to perform in front of them
Speaker 1: and meet them and it was crazy. What was that like?
Speaker 1: I mean, I have never met a president and I
Speaker 1: just I got it as soon as I met them.
Speaker 1: I was like, there's a reason that these people win
Speaker 1: these elections because they have this aura about them, this
Speaker 1: like kind of magnetic energy. It is so bizarre. Obama
Speaker 1: was like the coolest. I was gonna say, what was
Speaker 1: was it all that? I'm sure all the energy was different,
Speaker 1: that it was different. Yeah. Bill Clinton was definitely kind
Speaker 1: of like flirty charming. What can I char Harry Charming?
Speaker 1: And and George W. Bush was kind of goofy um.
Speaker 1: Jimmy Carter was like he's a he was as snapper snapper,
Speaker 1: whipper snapper, really like nice. What was he like? Oh?
Speaker 1: Jr Jr. Was like the goofy one? And then h
Speaker 1: w was he You know, he's kind of struggling, so
Speaker 1: he's he didn't talk that much because he's sweetheart. And
Speaker 1: Obama was just a slick, cool, cool guy. Of course,
Speaker 1: it's just like, oh my god, this is so cool. Dang.
Speaker 1: And then here you are a straight blonde hair. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean what that's me on the other that's not you.
Speaker 1: That's my sister. Are you all twits? No? And she
Speaker 1: tattoos too, Yeah she does? Is that a family thing? No?
Speaker 1: That's just us Yannes love. So when did all these starts?
Speaker 1: They're amazing. This one started when I was eighteen, like
Speaker 1: the day after I turned eighteen, and then the other
Speaker 1: ones were all kind of like a few years after that,
Speaker 1: and then this one was in November. So this is
Speaker 1: the newest one. Yeah, oh nice. So what was the
Speaker 1: symbolism of this? This was for my one of my
Speaker 1: best friends passed about a little over two years ago,
Speaker 1: and he always wore a fedora, and so it took
Speaker 1: me a while to like come up with the idea
Speaker 1: because I just I wanted to honor him in some way.
Speaker 1: But his name was Gobby. He was an amazing musician
Speaker 1: and he actually helped record and produced my first like
Speaker 1: EP after I left my old band Hey Monday Monday, Yes,
Speaker 1: And so he was like a big part of my
Speaker 1: countryjourney coming into country pop. Yeah. Yeah, I just just
Speaker 1: kind of helped me out in the time where I
Speaker 1: needed it the most. And then, yeah, so I just
Speaker 1: wanted to honor him in a way. And he always
Speaker 1: worked the doors man the little have things. Well comes, okay,
Speaker 1: what river is taking up the whole couch? But figure
Speaker 1: it out? Can we join you? Guys. Okay, so you
Speaker 1: started your career in Florida, Yes, in Hey London, Yes.
Speaker 1: Talk to me about how that band got going and
Speaker 1: how you were you always a musician? Did you know
Speaker 1: you're gonna do music? I just find your love for it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I started singing at four years old, so I've just
Speaker 1: always known I wanted to sing. And then, um, I
Speaker 1: picked up a guitar like ten years old old, and
Speaker 1: I would kind I would mostly just write on guitar,
Speaker 1: didn't really go out and play it live, so it
Speaker 1: was more just for that. And then um yeah, starting
Speaker 1: in kind of my pre teen years, I got into
Speaker 1: rock music because as a kid I saying country and
Speaker 1: then I just started getting into rock music and then
Speaker 1: I kind of go hand in hand. Yeah, it's coming
Speaker 1: together more than ever with dying. I know, it's kind
Speaker 1: of crazy. I mean you turn on alternative and it's
Speaker 1: it's just a lot of electronics, so it's definitely not
Speaker 1: the same, but it is like there's a lot of
Speaker 1: rock and country music, and when you know, growing up
Speaker 1: listening to country music, I was more into the kind
Speaker 1: of pop side like Martina and I and Faith Hill.
Speaker 1: So that's why I like I tend to go that
Speaker 1: way anyway. Yeah, well do you have that big voice? Thanks?
Speaker 1: What the heck was that was the front door? It was?
Speaker 1: It was probably the wind or something. I'm scared of.
Speaker 1: Me was like, what in the world, Um well, I
Speaker 1: have an alarm system, so that's good. Um yeah. I
Speaker 1: just started playing in bands and around like thirteen or fifteen,
Speaker 1: and then I just got into Hey Monday and we
Speaker 1: got signed really fast. To say that I had a
Speaker 1: big life, I mean it for not making it all
Speaker 1: the way, it had a big swell around it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's really bizarre to to live here and like right
Speaker 1: with somebody or um go do press or something and
Speaker 1: they're like, oh, yeah, we used to listen to Hey Monday,
Speaker 1: and I'm just likely that is. So. I did not
Speaker 1: think that we were that big, and you know, like
Speaker 1: you said, didn't have like a hit on the radio
Speaker 1: or anything. We weren't massive, but there was just this
Speaker 1: really interesting kind of like core following that stuck with
Speaker 1: me through the years. And I know they've they've supported
Speaker 1: the other guys and their endeavors, so it's kind of crazy.
Speaker 1: So after did Hey Mindy just kind of naturally end
Speaker 1: And then at that sometimes that when you're like, well, shoot,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna just go win the voice. Well I wish
Speaker 1: that was my thought process. That would have been really
Speaker 1: confident of me. I left the band. We we started
Speaker 1: to just kind of hit a ceiling, and so I
Speaker 1: left the band, went to l A, tried to pursue
Speaker 1: a solo thing. I did this really small acoustic tour
Speaker 1: and I mean there were like five people at every show.
Speaker 1: It was brutal, um and it went back into van
Speaker 1: and everything, because hey, Monday, we started in a van
Speaker 1: and then we went to a bus, which was like
Speaker 1: the best thing ever, but then you went back to van.
Speaker 1: So it was like a hit to the pride. But
Speaker 1: I did and it was fun. But um, I got
Speaker 1: the opportunity to go audition with a voice, and I was, well,
Speaker 1: this seems like a really good time to do it
Speaker 1: because I'm pretty desperate. I'm back in a vandage so okay,
Speaker 1: yeah exactly. And I was living with my friend Ali
Speaker 1: at the time, who's in l A still. She's a
Speaker 1: songwriter and she was starting to do really well with songwriting.
Speaker 1: So thankfully she was like, don't worry about rent, just
Speaker 1: do your thing. Not an angel She's an angel I've
Speaker 1: ever since I was in preschool, so she was always
Speaker 1: a big part of my life. But yeah, I went
Speaker 1: and auditioned and the rest is history. It's kind of
Speaker 1: crazy you brought up something that I like to talk
Speaker 1: about with people a lot, that the transitions of life.
Speaker 1: I feel like so many people would see someone like
Speaker 1: you and they'd be like, you are the dream, and
Speaker 1: you are the dream. But then it's like when you
Speaker 1: break down the dream to get to where you are,
Speaker 1: which is to have this the number one song with
Speaker 1: Chris Young, I mean, like a huge presence on social media.
Speaker 1: People love everything you do. You just put out new
Speaker 1: music and it's like the cover of Spotify and I
Speaker 1: love that. You know, people would be like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: Cassidy Pope is the dream. But to get to the
Speaker 1: dream you had to go through so much stuff that
Speaker 1: I feel like people don't realize the hard work and
Speaker 1: the paying on the heart, like you said, going from
Speaker 1: a bus back to a van to like figure out
Speaker 1: what's kind of like to And I feel like selling
Speaker 1: musicians and artists and creatives in general have that where
Speaker 1: it's just like you know you have the talent and
Speaker 1: what it takes, but you just don't quite know how
Speaker 1: to get it out there, so you have to trial
Speaker 1: and error do Yeah. Absolutely, I mean especially with the
Speaker 1: team that surrounds you, because coming off of the Voice,
Speaker 1: I inherited my team and I'm really lucky. That's the
Speaker 1: best thing that you ever did. Yeah, I mean I
Speaker 1: really A part of me sometimes wonders like what it
Speaker 1: would have been like if I had just stuck with
Speaker 1: it and trucked through it and done it like kind
Speaker 1: of old school way. But then another part of me
Speaker 1: is really happy with where I am, and um what
Speaker 1: I probably wouldn't be in this exact place. I know
Speaker 1: I wouldn't yea um, but yeah, I mean my whole
Speaker 1: career has been ups and downs. I mean even just
Speaker 1: last year it was like a really tough year. I
Speaker 1: had left my label, just became single after like seven
Speaker 1: and a half years with the same person, and so
Speaker 1: you literally stripped all things in your life, label, serious, relationship,
Speaker 1: publishing management. Did you feel so naked? I did? What
Speaker 1: what does that feeling feel like to have no team,
Speaker 1: no boyfriend, no nothing you but all this experience and
Speaker 1: wisdom behind you. Yeah, I think that's it. I was.
Speaker 1: I was really trusting myself in those moments because I
Speaker 1: I my whole career really has been listening to people
Speaker 1: that are more successful than I am um and kind
Speaker 1: of letting them sway my decisions. And while a lot
Speaker 1: of times, you know, it was great people were steering
Speaker 1: me in the right direction, a lot of times things
Speaker 1: didn't work out, and I was like, man, if I
Speaker 1: only just went with my guts, So I know, just
Speaker 1: why does it Teesta want to learn that? It sucks
Speaker 1: to learn that after you've like made all of these
Speaker 1: not great decisions. But you know, last year, I was
Speaker 1: just like, what was your breaking point last year? What
Speaker 1: happen then to make it all just be like explode
Speaker 1: to you? Almost like rebirthing. Yeah, well I was. I
Speaker 1: started to have a really tough time with music after
Speaker 1: right after Think of You, I released my own song
Speaker 1: Summer and that was a huge Think of You was
Speaker 1: like a massive number one with christ Young y'all did
Speaker 1: a tour. I mean around this time you were like
Speaker 1: playing Awards. As I saw you on Awards with pit Bull. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was crazy, But what's happening? I know? And it
Speaker 1: felt like, oh my gosh, it's finally it's happening, because
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not saying it wasn't. It didn't feel
Speaker 1: good before then like wasting all these tears. Right after
Speaker 1: that was a big hit that was like a top ten.
Speaker 1: It's a huge hit. Did you come in out of
Speaker 1: the voice with with your own single? And it makes
Speaker 1: top ten? It makes top ten, big impact. Way to
Speaker 1: start your period. Yeah, I felt good. Then the second
Speaker 1: single bombs, I mean didn't bomb at Actually at one
Speaker 1: point I was like one of it was I was
Speaker 1: the only girl in the top thirty or something, and
Speaker 1: but they moved on really quickly, and what are you
Speaker 1: gonna do? And that's something that is unfortunately artists learned
Speaker 1: the hard way sometimes that the labels is. You can
Speaker 1: have you coming off the biggest show in America as
Speaker 1: the winner, have a huge hit, and then for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: the label might just decide they're not going to push
Speaker 1: that second single if it hits a little bit of resistance,
Speaker 1: the resistance that's just a little bit because they couldn't
Speaker 1: push it through. Of course, there's so many things at play,
Speaker 1: but it's so frustrating. It's frustrating because you know, you
Speaker 1: see other people who stick with it and they can
Speaker 1: push a single for almost a year and finally get
Speaker 1: their number one, and it's like I'm patient, I'm ready,
Speaker 1: I'm ready to way. I know how country radio works,
Speaker 1: but you know that that that was like a low
Speaker 1: point and then um, think of You happened like right
Speaker 1: when I didn't have anything going on, and that was amazing. Um,
Speaker 1: and then I wanted to strike while the iron was hot,
Speaker 1: so I like, I released Summer and it's like EPA
Speaker 1: thank you, and then that got pulled really fast, like
Speaker 1: after five weeks, and I was just how do you
Speaker 1: deal with that? Frustration? I left? You left? That was?
Speaker 1: That was it? That was the point. I was like,
Speaker 1: this is this isn't working? Like and it were not
Speaker 1: even though they could be great and you're great, Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe it's just not a match exactly because clearly they
Speaker 1: know what they're they're amazing and were broken a lot
Speaker 1: of artists, but it just for some reason wasn't working.
Speaker 1: And we're on still on great terms. But um, it
Speaker 1: was definitely that moment was when I was like, this
Speaker 1: isn't good. I wasn't um, I didn't feel like myself.
Speaker 1: I started to feel really um like blocked creatively, and um,
Speaker 1: I realized that had a lot to do with just
Speaker 1: me working on myself, and you know, it's really it's
Speaker 1: the personal side is a lot that I probably don't
Speaker 1: want to get into into, but you know that that
Speaker 1: was a big thing as well. So getting getting past
Speaker 1: that and then kind of like, I haven't been alone
Speaker 1: since I was like eighteen, So what have you discovered
Speaker 1: about yourself? So low Cassidy, it has been so I've
Speaker 1: like finally loved myself, which I didn't I thought I
Speaker 1: did before, but I really didn't understand what that's really like,
Speaker 1: What what's the difference? What what is different now as
Speaker 1: opposed to what you thought would love? I really before
Speaker 1: I thought, um, it's very it was very surface level
Speaker 1: loving myself. It was very like to try to look
Speaker 1: as confident as you can because then other people will
Speaker 1: think that you're confident, put out that you love yourself,
Speaker 1: and then but not really understanding what that is. And
Speaker 1: then like you know, I read books, I went to therapy,
Speaker 1: I did all this stuff. I really took the time
Speaker 1: to just get to know myself and figured whatever it
Speaker 1: was out. And then I realized I like I cared
Speaker 1: too much about what everybody thought and that's so normal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And like I looked around too much, and I just
Speaker 1: was like, well, why isn't this working? Why can't I
Speaker 1: do this? And when that person? When that person can
Speaker 1: and and um and now I'm just like, Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: very different from everybody else, Like everybody has their own
Speaker 1: unique thing, which is your superpower, yeah, which we if
Speaker 1: we all just tapped into that, everybody would be much
Speaker 1: out there, you know, because we are very very different people,
Speaker 1: like all of us. So, um, I kind of just
Speaker 1: I just trusted my gut. And then I'd like I
Speaker 1: started to walk into rooms and I would be able
Speaker 1: to go to places by myself and not feel like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I would feel like I'm a loser
Speaker 1: and here by myself, like it just you know, I'd
Speaker 1: feel confident just even in a room. He's just gonna
Speaker 1: sit on you, just comfortable as don't you, buddy, He's
Speaker 1: just sitting on the couch getting in the shot. Okay.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I, um, it was a really it was
Speaker 1: a tough time, but it was also really really essential.
Speaker 1: I've never gone through that in my adult life, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, being alone and like being okay with the
Speaker 1: fact that okay, I'm gonna have some nights where I'm lonely,
Speaker 1: where I'm used to somebody like being with me and
Speaker 1: sleeping next to me. But that's kind of just like
Speaker 1: the process. And then and then eventually you get to
Speaker 1: I got to a place where I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm ready ready to get back out there, and you know,
Speaker 1: started dating, started going, and like both both like musically
Speaker 1: and personally. I was like, uh, you know, going to
Speaker 1: meetings with managers and going on dates with boys. It
Speaker 1: was just you really free. I was I'm happy and
Speaker 1: like excited. Yeah, I was really excited. I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I hadn't met anybody that I was excited about, and
Speaker 1: I was like, it's still even so like I'm still
Speaker 1: I'm still walking into these things with my head held
Speaker 1: high and no expectations that. That was another thing. It's
Speaker 1: like with everything in my life, I would always envision
Speaker 1: and picture of things happening a certain way, and then
Speaker 1: when they didn't happen that way, I was disappointed. And
Speaker 1: it's just it's very hard to not do that. But
Speaker 1: like you just become so much more fulfilled. Guys, there's
Speaker 1: so many bones. Why do you have to steal his
Speaker 1: bone because this Rivers has it, so it's obviously the
Speaker 1: best one. You were an I share. See that was
Speaker 1: a good sheering. I mean, we can do this, we
Speaker 1: can pose this, we can do this. Um and then
Speaker 1: uh and then yeah, I met my manager Daniel, and UM,
Speaker 1: we hit it off right away. But I you know,
Speaker 1: being in the state of like I'm just I need
Speaker 1: to make sure I'm making our decisions. I just met
Speaker 1: with a bunch of other managers too, and in the
Speaker 1: back of my mind knowing Daniel was probably the one,
Speaker 1: and then went with Daniel and the rest of the
Speaker 1: team just kind of fell into place after that. And
Speaker 1: I don't I'm not signed to a label and I'm
Speaker 1: choosing to do this independently, made their own music the
Speaker 1: way we want to make it. Yeah, everything from the
Speaker 1: visuals to the music to potential touring and in the
Speaker 1: fall is all my what I want, my vision. So
Speaker 1: it's it's really feeling good. I love that, and I
Speaker 1: love that you have gotten to this point in the process,
Speaker 1: because if we would have interviewed maybe like six months
Speaker 1: a year earlier, you might have been in a totally
Speaker 1: different mindset. But the thing that I think it's so
Speaker 1: cool about what you're doing. And I have lived through
Speaker 1: this in my own life in different ways. Is just
Speaker 1: you sat in the mup for a while and you
Speaker 1: just like let yourself feel it. And I feel like
Speaker 1: so many times people, especially people in spotlight, especially people
Speaker 1: who do feel all that pressure to keep going in
Speaker 1: the urgency of like in this industry is like you've
Speaker 1: got to stay out there, but really you don't, because
Speaker 1: it's so much better to take the time to figure
Speaker 1: out who you are tow on the front end than
Speaker 1: to just keep the mess going. It's really hard to
Speaker 1: figure yourself out a lot of commitment, and I mean
Speaker 1: everyone was to deal with that. No, I mean I was.
Speaker 1: I didn't do any any press, any red carpet, any
Speaker 1: ward shows. I didn't like. I wasn't on tour last year.
Speaker 1: I didn't. The only thing that I did career wise
Speaker 1: was get in the studio with Corey Crowder and get
Speaker 1: the music done. And that was like therapy at that
Speaker 1: point because I was going through so much. But I really,
Speaker 1: you're right, I sat in it, and I like, I
Speaker 1: feel like if I hadn't, and I would never be
Speaker 1: in this space. I mean, I feel like I could
Speaker 1: handle anything. Like I feel like my skin got thicker
Speaker 1: is crazy. And also the addiction of buzziness, which I
Speaker 1: feel like for for me, like I had for the
Speaker 1: longest time, it's been tality. I'm not busy, if I'm
Speaker 1: not doing something that I'm not relevant, I'm not worthy
Speaker 1: or whatever. Really, sometimes there is a time where you
Speaker 1: do just need to like center and reflect it. I
Speaker 1: I think balance is very underrated. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: there's such a focus on working hard and really you know,
Speaker 1: hammering in and like you know people that look busy
Speaker 1: or look more successful, But it's like you have to
Speaker 1: take time for yourself because if you don't, you're going
Speaker 1: to burn out and you're not going to be at
Speaker 1: your best if you're exhausted. And just like going and
Speaker 1: doing and saying yes to every single thing, and not
Speaker 1: to mention that's not exactly best for some people's brands anyway,
Speaker 1: Like you want to say yes to things that round
Speaker 1: out your story and makes sense. And I was the
Speaker 1: yes girl. I know what that's like. And now it's
Speaker 1: like that doesn't really make sense for what I'm promoting
Speaker 1: in my message, So I'm gonna not see that and
Speaker 1: that's hard to do. But you have to. But once
Speaker 1: you go through what you've gone through, it actually probably
Speaker 1: gets easier because now you're like, my sister told me
Speaker 1: something and I she heard it from a podcast or something.
Speaker 1: If it's not a hell yes, it's a note. Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: I think that's where you are now. If it's not
Speaker 1: a hell yes and everything wipes up, then it's really
Speaker 1: not worth it. You got through so much to know
Speaker 1: what you want to do. Yeah, it's quality over quantity.
Speaker 1: And would you feel like happiness is the goal now
Speaker 1: instead of success? I mean, obviously you still don't have success,
Speaker 1: but like, how has your mental how has your mind
Speaker 1: shifted from when you started after you want the voice
Speaker 1: to now? Um? Oh man, there's so many things. I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think happiness is now. I know that that's worth
Speaker 1: more than anything. Um. And you know, I get happiness
Speaker 1: from what I do, So just being able to do
Speaker 1: this for the rest of my life, I'd be happy obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, finding somebody to share everything with, like a companion,
Speaker 1: and that that's like a long term goal of course,
Speaker 1: you know. And I feel like, in a way I'm
Speaker 1: starting over because there's been you know, some relationships that
Speaker 1: I didn't build because I came to town in such
Speaker 1: a hurry, and I just like, I mean, I had
Speaker 1: a lot of people in between me and these these
Speaker 1: people that I needed to have this like personal contact with,
Speaker 1: and so now I'm kind of building those relationships and
Speaker 1: I'm telling people my story and they're kind of understanding, like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's why we never really like met up, or that's
Speaker 1: why we never we never came to the offices. They
Speaker 1: were like, you know, like those kinds of situations. So
Speaker 1: it's it's just just I'm just like kind of laying
Speaker 1: down the cement, you know, I'm like building and it's
Speaker 1: it feels really good and I'm happy. Like before, I
Speaker 1: was in such a rush and I was just trying
Speaker 1: to I wanted to get to a certain amount of
Speaker 1: you know, accomplishments by a certain age. And now I'm
Speaker 1: just like, I don't even care about the timeline. I'm
Speaker 1: just doing what I want and it feels it feels right.
Speaker 1: What a gift to have that mentality, Thank God, truly,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry you had to go through what you went through,
Speaker 1: but did not even be thirty and to have that mentality,
Speaker 1: what a lifesaver for the rest of your life. I know.
Speaker 1: But it's also I mean if people looked around, like
Speaker 1: there's a lot of women in country music and men
Speaker 1: and just in music in general that don't have their
Speaker 1: moment until their thirties. Like not to always talk about
Speaker 1: Chris Stapleton, but I mean look at him. He would
Speaker 1: have given up ten times before, Like he had so
Speaker 1: many moments that failed for him that should have succeeded. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I mean I probably wouldn't have been able to
Speaker 1: handle big, huge success at you know, twenty one or
Speaker 1: whatever the same way I would handle it, you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully within the next year or two. So like I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm fine like with it taking this long because
Speaker 1: I feel like I I know how to navigate things
Speaker 1: and just mentally like I couldn't probably handle it's so
Speaker 1: much to understand. Oh, there's so much thank you were
Speaker 1: in the spotlight, but not like massively where everyone's monitoring
Speaker 1: your every micro movie. Yeah, I don't. I don't really
Speaker 1: want that, like I want to might not sound like
Speaker 1: the dream. No, No, my dream is too What is
Speaker 1: your dream? Oh my gosh, what's your long term dream?
Speaker 1: Long term? This has been a vision of mine since
Speaker 1: I was four years old. You're sitting the rocket chair
Speaker 1: at this what does it look like? Um, I would
Speaker 1: love to be able to tour stadiums someday, UM, have
Speaker 1: songs that stand the test of time. Um, eventually host
Speaker 1: and be the musical guest on SNL. That's like happening.
Speaker 1: That's gonna happen sooner than later. Well, and I'm like
Speaker 1: a goofball. I'm I'm like, so you're kind of love
Speaker 1: acting out all I would love. Yeah, I mean, I
Speaker 1: grew up watching Jim Carrey and like idolizing him. So
Speaker 1: I'm like, I feel like I'm not afraid to get
Speaker 1: ugly funny like I would. I would. I would really
Speaker 1: dig in and go for it, go for fear, which
Speaker 1: is awesome because you're so beautiful and talent. Did peone
Speaker 1: was loving to see that side and I just don't care,
Speaker 1: like it would be so fun but um, and then yeah,
Speaker 1: and like having a family. I would love a family
Speaker 1: someday that I'm um, you know that I was a
Speaker 1: good mom and and uh, yeah, I guess if I'm
Speaker 1: in a rocking chair, it's eighty whatever, grandchildren, you know.
Speaker 1: I'm just like, there's a lot of life that I
Speaker 1: have left to live and I'm excited about it. What
Speaker 1: good tell me about the country music industry with women,
Speaker 1: because you're part of this movement, especially the women who
Speaker 1: are really starting to like make a name for themselves
Speaker 1: who aren't like the carry underwoods yet, but like there's
Speaker 1: this whole surge of y'all that are hanging out, sticking together,
Speaker 1: supporting each other. They all came to your album released
Speaker 1: part of you, like I don't know if five or
Speaker 1: two badass chicks that they're singing with you. Yeah, talk
Speaker 1: to me about this community or our building. Is this insane? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it feels it feels really organic. I mean we're we
Speaker 1: We started off, you know, all just running into each
Speaker 1: other at at award shows and red carpet events, and
Speaker 1: that is the case ills sometimes because everybody's so busy,
Speaker 1: but we really My my main thing is like, yes,
Speaker 1: the girls nights where we all get together. There are
Speaker 1: few and far between because of scheduling, but those are fun.
Speaker 1: But my honestly, my approach with everybody is like I
Speaker 1: love one on ones or maybe twos or threes, but
Speaker 1: like I'm focusing on our actual friendships because I know,
Speaker 1: like when you're in a group, a lot of people
Speaker 1: don't want to talk about themselves and make it all
Speaker 1: about them. But when you're just hanging out one on one,
Speaker 1: you're exchanging stories and experiences and it's it's it's I
Speaker 1: don't know, I feel like there's more of a personal
Speaker 1: connection and you you get like a real friendship out
Speaker 1: of it. So, you know, fast forward to from last year,
Speaker 1: like are starting in last year all the hard times
Speaker 1: I went through, I leaned on my friends, but more
Speaker 1: than I've ever done before. And they realized they wanted that,
Speaker 1: like they wanted me to confide in them because we
Speaker 1: as a someone like yourself who's so driven, do you
Speaker 1: feel like you have to be strong all the time
Speaker 1: and it can't be vulnerable. Yeah, I used to struggle
Speaker 1: with that. I don't anymore, thankfully, but I don't. I Yeah,
Speaker 1: I used to be like, they don't want to hear
Speaker 1: me complain about this, or I don't want to make
Speaker 1: I don't want to make people uncomfortable. But it's like
Speaker 1: if people get uncomfortable because you're telling them you're about
Speaker 1: your feelings, that's probably something wrong, that's probably something they're
Speaker 1: going through. Um So so yeah, I just fat you know,
Speaker 1: from there and fast forward to the like the showcase
Speaker 1: I did that was for your new EP release. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that was for that was just honestly for like the
Speaker 1: music that I've been working on that no one's really
Speaker 1: heard yet, and I was just giving them, like everybody
Speaker 1: kind of a sneak preview. Um. But I mean I
Speaker 1: have very specific friendships with each and every one of them,
Speaker 1: separate from everybody else. Like it's you know again, like
Speaker 1: having them all over and doing a girl's night would
Speaker 1: be great, but that's that's really tough. So I just
Speaker 1: try and make time for everybody and we just have
Speaker 1: our own moments, which I love. I love that. What
Speaker 1: advice did you tell your younger self? Oh my gosh, Um,
Speaker 1: don't be afraid of being alone. Um, even before my
Speaker 1: last relationship, I had boyfriends back to back since I
Speaker 1: was like like I was, I was always just like
Speaker 1: you know, boy crazy and wanting something. Yeah, just wanting
Speaker 1: somebody to share life with, even before I have anything happening. Um.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think I think I just missed out
Speaker 1: on like a massive and then I just did it,
Speaker 1: So I'm happy, But like I missed out on this
Speaker 1: crazy time you're supposed to have when you're like when
Speaker 1: you're adult, like your your younger years and you're figuring
Speaker 1: yourself out and you're you're by yourself, so then you
Speaker 1: can get into a relationship that um, and you're in
Speaker 1: your best version of yourself, so you can like give
Speaker 1: everything you can to a relationship. And I was I
Speaker 1: didn't have that capacity. So yeah, I mean, I guess
Speaker 1: that's on a personal level, but that's probably the advice
Speaker 1: I would give. What does love me to you God,
Speaker 1: and not just romantic love, just love? Yeah, I just love, um,
Speaker 1: I guess honestly, probably acceptance totally, Yeah, because like the
Speaker 1: only way to love somebody else or love yourself or
Speaker 1: love a dog or whatever. It's like they're they're gonna like,
Speaker 1: you know, probably fart sometimes and and like p on
Speaker 1: the couch or whatever it is. But like I still
Speaker 1: love them because like they I take them as they are.
Speaker 1: And same thing with a career, you know, it's ups
Speaker 1: and downs and sometimes I don't understand it, like how
Speaker 1: the process works or how things happen. But I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna not I'm not gonna do anything else. So I'm
Speaker 1: obviously I abviously know what I do. And the same
Speaker 1: thing with like in a relationship, you know, there's there's
Speaker 1: little things here and there that maybe aren't perfect at
Speaker 1: totally am into that. So after all the high, like
Speaker 1: you've had the highest of high, winning the voice, performing
Speaker 1: with pit Bull, number one songs, huge store to obviously regrouping,
Speaker 1: finding yourself, what would you say is the point of life?
Speaker 1: Because because a lot of people would be like, oh,
Speaker 1: to get money and have famed success. Okay, well you
Speaker 1: had all that, so it's like that's a great part
Speaker 1: of it. But what is the point? I think? I
Speaker 1: mean honestly, and I don't think life makes any sense
Speaker 1: if you're not happy. I mean, what is happiness? How
Speaker 1: do you get happy? I think? I mean again, it
Speaker 1: starts within yourself. I mean you have to love and
Speaker 1: be happy with yourself in order to apply that to
Speaker 1: any other aspect of your life. Like you really because
Speaker 1: when you when it starts here and you put out
Speaker 1: the energy of like, I'm I'm confident, I'm happy, I'm
Speaker 1: content with myself, I'm excited about life. Just things start happening.
Speaker 1: I mean I I didn't really go seeking a lot
Speaker 1: of things that have come to me over the past
Speaker 1: year because I would just I just have this new
Speaker 1: feeling of excitement for life and felt good about myself
Speaker 1: that I like, people are drawn to that energy. It's
Speaker 1: really interesting. So because it's not desperate, you don't need anything. No,
Speaker 1: it's like, if this happens, cool, If not, I'm good,
Speaker 1: Like I can figure things out with myself. I'm self
Speaker 1: sufficient enough to do that. So yeah, I mean finding happiness.
Speaker 1: Happiness is different for everybody, you know, it's all I
Speaker 1: think relative, But um, that's that's the way I see it.
Speaker 1: So you you know a lot of celebrities. You obviously
Speaker 1: are on team Blake. Blake Shelton was like your mentor.
Speaker 1: You've toured with Christian I had a single pit Well,
Speaker 1: obviously you know all that you are in the celebrity world.
Speaker 1: Who have you been most star struck by? Because there
Speaker 1: anyone that's made you start struck Shania Twain Shania Twayne
Speaker 1: I met and I met her. I was so surprised
Speaker 1: when I met her because it was backstage at a
Speaker 1: twenty one pilot show and I was like, not a
Speaker 1: spect Wayne. I know, I know she was a fan
Speaker 1: of joining my Pilot's so cool, um, and I I
Speaker 1: was just I couldn't believe it. I heard her voice like,
Speaker 1: so you just know what it is. It's just like that, yeah,
Speaker 1: that tone. I was like, I met her and I
Speaker 1: did not ask for a picture, and she was walking
Speaker 1: away and my sister's kissed picture, like nope, and she
Speaker 1: turned around she's like, do you want a picture? I
Speaker 1: was like yes. So I was so happy that she
Speaker 1: just offered. And um, I mean, yeah, that's something I
Speaker 1: could improve on, is asking people for pictures. It's hardly
Speaker 1: that you know what's wide being on the other end
Speaker 1: of it. So you're like, I don't want to bother something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I also like, um, this is so off topic.
Speaker 1: But I don't know. I don't know if you feel
Speaker 1: this way, but like I find it really hard after
Speaker 1: having a really um uh well it's funny because we'll
Speaker 1: probably take a pict track of this, but this is
Speaker 1: more of altering. Yeah, but like having a really authentic,
Speaker 1: genuine conversation with somebody backstage somewhere or whatever and they're like, okay,
Speaker 1: let's take a selfie. I know what you mean. It's
Speaker 1: kind of cheap, is it? Yeah? Is the But I
Speaker 1: know exactly because you're like you have this conversation for
Speaker 1: the conversations like why are docular for the world. I know,
Speaker 1: but I do sometimes envy that and like I wish
Speaker 1: I got a picture but but anyway, Yeah, she totally offered,
Speaker 1: and I was like, yeah, okay, so obviously I talk
Speaker 1: to you forever. What's one thing about you that nobody knows?
Speaker 1: What's a quirk? Oh? You know what? I prefer to
Speaker 1: sleep in, like pants, like really pa jama pants. There's
Speaker 1: something about like slide up and get on your I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: I do, but I think like I don't like I
Speaker 1: sleep on my side a lot, and I don't like
Speaker 1: my knees because like you know, like the bone like
Speaker 1: bony knees on top of each other's not very comfy.
Speaker 1: And then like these dogs sleep with me so like
Speaker 1: sometimes they like go under the covers and lay on
Speaker 1: my leg and I just like the bare leg with
Speaker 1: the dog all on. It's just so hot. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I like to sleep in pajama pants. That's like the
Speaker 1: big reveal, a big reveals, full pajama pant I love it,
Speaker 1: but I'm sure I'll think of something after you least
Speaker 1: know the damn it. I should have said that, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna wrap up with leave your lights, so leave
Speaker 1: some inspiration. Obviously you're pure inspiration in general. Your story
Speaker 1: is inspiring. But everything that you've been through, all that
Speaker 1: you've learned, what do you want to tell people who
Speaker 1: are looking up to you, who wish they could be
Speaker 1: like you, What do you want to tell them just
Speaker 1: about the journey of just some inspiration? I think honestly
Speaker 1: going into things with less of an expectation is really helpful. Um,
Speaker 1: if I if somebody had told me I got here
Speaker 1: from a singing competition show and one of my most
Speaker 1: what my most successful song was a duet with Chris Young,
Speaker 1: I'd be like, that isn't that's not true? Like that
Speaker 1: that's not going to be me. You have fourteen You
Speaker 1: would never know that, No, I know. So I think
Speaker 1: that people just need to kind of open their mind
Speaker 1: ends to their what their journey looks like. Um, we
Speaker 1: all have a very specific route we think we're gonna take,
Speaker 1: but like, just be open to every avenue because things
Speaker 1: never happen the way you think they're gonna happen. Ever, no, Ever,
Speaker 1: I totally totally agree with that, and just let it,
Speaker 1: let it lead you, let your journey lead you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and work really hard along the way. It's not like
Speaker 1: things are gonna get handed to you. But um, don't, don't,
Speaker 1: you know, push something away because it's not the way
Speaker 1: you saw things, Like how I didn't see this happening.
Speaker 1: I don't want to take this route. If it if
Speaker 1: it feels a little uncomfortable, that's probably a good thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Cassie Pope, You're amazing. I love you. I'm so happy
Speaker 1: that you're having your own Carol. She's a queen of ting.
Speaker 1: I know you love that interview. Cassidy is amazing. Love
Speaker 1: her so much. I'm so excited follow along with her
Speaker 1: with her new music, just her new perspective and what
Speaker 1: is coming for her. So you guys, stick with Cassidy
Speaker 1: see what she's up to because it's gonna be major.
Speaker 1: And we'll see you next week. M