When Cassadee Pope co-founded the pop-punk band Hey Monday back in 2008, she set out to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
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With Hey Monday, the Florida native toured around the world and got to play alongside some of her heroes, like Fall Out Boy, All Time Low, All-American Rejects and more, cutting her teeth on how to connect with audiences and express herself as an artist. Then, in 2012, she became the first-ever female winner of The Voice as a part of Blake Shelton’s team—that launched a whole new era of Cassadee Pope.
Fresh off the win (which included highlight moments like having her version of Miranda Lambert’s “Over You” knock Psy’s “Gangnam Style” from No. 1 on the iTunes charts), she relocated to Nashville. There, she began to explore another side of her own artistry: her love for country music. In 2013, she put out her debut solo album, Frame by Frame, which included the single “Wasting All These Tears”—the tune went on to be certified Platinum within just 10 months.
Since then, however, Pope hasn’t slowed down–in fact, she’s only continued to explore her own work and what she’s capable of. This past October, she unveiled her latest album: Thrive, a brilliant 13-song record that effortlessly blends her two worlds (pop-punk and country) into an irresistibly catchy, resonant, and impactful sound.
Sitting down with American Songwriter for a recent episode of Off The Record Live, Pope offered a peek behind the curtain, describing how she made this record alongside her producers Nick Wheeler (All-American Rejects) and Karen Fairchild (Little Big Town). She also spoke about how meaningful the songwriting process is for her and even played a few songs live in-studio.
Check out the full episode below:
