We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cassandra Cole. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cassandra below.

Cassandra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

My first album, “Steps,” was released this past May and has been an extremely meaningful experience for me. A few years ago, my whole life fell apart. During the time my husband was seeking sobriety, my father in law went missing and we still haven’t found him. Throughout those months, we lost our job and my mental health deteriorated into a complete breakdown. We have two sets of twins that were still dependent upon me and I could barely get out of bed. I would find myself at a lake just struggling. I wrote these words and these melody’s to heal, to survive, and to gain some sense of closure.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in California and moved all over the country. These experiences definitely enriched my songwriting and allowed me to use this platform as a security blanket.

I started writing poetry at the age of 6 and found my way to the stage as an actor and a vocal performer. Struggling with depression, I felt alone and unseen. I was different which was hard to fit in and led to being bullied. I can see now why a group of girls would squish gum into my curly locks. We are all broken and in search for acceptance, but it still hurt.

Through music, I can connect with myself and other people in ways that are healing and vulnerable. A line I live by is, “you have to get out the bad to piece together the good.”

I moved to Minnesota from Boston and took a break from music to start a family. I absolutely love being a mother to two sets of Twins!

About 5 years ago, I jumped back into the music scene. I found myself in an acoustic duo with Jason Hafer. He moved to Portland where we continued our musical friendship. He produced my debut album, “Steps” where we pieced all of the instruments together separately during Covid.

My album was released last May with the help of Sara Horishnyk and Scott Herold from “Rock the Cause” record label. They believe in me and my music. I am honored to be an artist included on the label’s roster.

“Rock the Cause” donates a portion of the profit to a charity of my choosing. My focus is mental health.

I cannot wait to see what the future will hold. Success is the act of trying, failing, learning and reaching attainable goals. My hope is that my heart shows through my music and helps other people feel seen.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the ability to free myself emotionally and physically to the process and restraint of perfectionism. A line I live by is, you have to get out the bad to piece together the good. This is incredibly healing and enables the connection between me and others who struggle.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

The Minnesota Music Coalition has been an excellent source of knowledge and mentorship that I wish I knew about earlier on in my career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cassandracolemusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassandracole.me
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassandracole.me
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/CassandraColeMusicI

Image Credits
Darin Kamnetz Ashleigh Harris