Country Music Star Cassadee Pope on Her New Album ‘Stages’ and Healthy Partnership with Campbell’s Well YES! Sipping Soups

Cassadee Pope (Press Photo)

Back Story – When Cassadee Pope started writing songs for what would become her second solo album, she didn’t really know whether they would be heard by anyone, and that wasn’t the point. “I had just gone through a lot of life changes, and the best way I knew how to untangle all the emotions I was feeling was to put them into songs,” says Pope. During this therapeutic process, more life happened and garnished the album with unexpected storylines.

One by one, Pope kept writing songs, and before she knew it, they started to tell a story of the journey she had been on. The past five years had been filled with tremendous highs: In 2012, her powerhouse singing style and striking presence helped her to triumph on season three of NBC’s The Voice, and a year later she released her full-length debut, Frame By Frame, a gem of a disc that bowed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country chart and hit the top 10 on Billboard’s main chart. The album packed the platinum-selling single “Wasting All These Tears,” the video of which was hailed as the “Breakthrough Video of the Year” at 2014’s CMT Music Awards.

There was more: Pope received nominations at the American Country Awards and People’s Choice Awards, among others. Her 2016 pairing with Chris Young yielded a No. 1 hit, “Think of You,” which garnered a 2017 Grammy nod for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. And everywhere Pope performed – during her own headline shows, on tours with the likes of Tim McGraw and Dierks Bentley or even at London’s O2 Arena for the C2C: Country to Country festival – she went down a smash.

And then, just as it seemed as if everything couldn’t get any better, Pope hit some personal and professional rough patches: There was the dissolution of a longtime personal relationship, and simultaneously she decided to part ways with most of the team assigned to her after winning The Voice. “It all happened at the same time,” she says, “but I’m really glad that it did because it caused me to take control of everything in my life.”

More than ever, writing became catharsis for Pope, and through it all she arrived at her luminous new album, STAGES, a title she feels reflects a timeline of emotions: hurt, healing, freedom, focus and contentment. “Before I knew it, I had accumulated a collection of songs – some I had written, and others sent to me – which when put together told a story of this moment in my life and how I came out on the other side of it all,” says Pope. “The greatest reward will be to bring each of them to life on all kinds of stages out on the road this year.”

The aptly named STAGES represents an astonishing leap for Pope as a singer and composer, one who effortlessly re-arranges the lines of country and pop and who is now making music for herself – on her own terms. “I really don’t know how I would have moved on with my life without this outlet,” she notes. “In the past I made records I thought everyone could relate to. This time, I didn’t think about that at all. I wanted to tell a story of my truths and perspective on how I approached life in hopes that the messages reach someone who may need help in their own stumble.”

It was an experience – and an experiment – that was both scary and empowering, and now that she’s followed through on all of her artistic goals, Pope sees STAGES as an important chapter in her tale. “It was a real release to make this record,” she says. “I feel freer than ever before, like I’m coming into my own on all fronts.”

While Pope might have seen herself at a crossroad in the beginning phase of STAGES, she bravely tackled every obstacle and came out of the experience at the peak of her musical powers. “As I listen to the record now, it’s a validating feeling to look back at a painful moment, see how I allowed myself to trust and lean on people who really care about me, and then put the pieces back together happily stronger than when I started this journey,” she concludes. “For the first time in my life I’m confident in the way that I navigate things thrown my way. And hopefully someone listening finds the same strength.”

The Hype Magazine got some time with Pope to discuss the new album, what it means to her and how it’s helped. She also talks her new partnership with Campbell’s Well YES! Sipping Soups which help her keep up her energy during an arduous schedule of touring, press and personal appearances!

cassadeepope.com / @cassadeepope

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Tags: Cassadee Pope, Country music

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.