Country Next: Cassidy Daniels

Cassidy Daniels is quickly becoming one of country music’s most exciting new artists. Between sharing her original music on the Yellowstone spin-off series, Dutton Ranch, touring with Brothers Osborne and preparing to release her debut full-length album, she continues to build momentum both on and off the stage.

The recent 101 Music signee is now based in Nashville, but her journey began in a military family that moved around frequently throughout her childhood. While she calls North Carolina home, she also spent formative years in Kentucky and Florida, but no matter where she lived, her love for music always followed.

Daniels knew she wanted to pursue music by 9 years old, and at 12, she began building a community in Music City and laying the foundation for the career she has today. She cut her teeth performing on Nashville’s Broadway strip before reaching a national audience as a finalist on CBS’ The Road.

That experience also led to a connection with Taylor Sheridan, who later featured Daniels throughout the first season of Dutton Ranch, where she performed several original songs, including “Heart Shaped Necklace,” “Crazy Love” and “Ain’t No Jukebox.” All three tracks are set to appear on her forthcoming album, produced by Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne.

Keep reading the exclusive Q&A to learn more about Cassidy Daniels’ journey to Nashville, the new perspective she gained on The Road, Her upcoming album and more.

Was music something that always followed you through all the different places that you lived growing up? 

Yeah. So I grew up in a post-9/11 active-duty military family. So songwriting and music was kind of my solace. And it definitely followed me around when we moved because honestly, the little Toys R Us keyboard that I had was our only constant. And it was something that ended up being very therapeutic for me too because my dad was gone in the height of combat. So it ended up being a hobby that kept me busy, kept me distracted and kept me entertained as a kid. 

Was your family musical too or was this something that you pursued on your own? 

This was something that I pursued. I grew up in the church, so I always sang in church. But to do it for a full-time career, I’m the first in my family to ever do it. 

At what point in your life did you really start to pursue it more seriously?

This sounds so crazy, but I was like nine years old. I had a dream. And I just knew. I was like, “Yeah, this is what I’m going to do forever.” And then there was just never a world where I wasn’t going to do music. I mean, I had my want to be a marine biologist phase. Music was plan A.

What steps did you take to get yourself to get your foot in the door in Nashville?

At the time I was getting into music, I kind of knew that females have a little bit less time than guys do on the spectrum of doing things in music…But I started very young because of that reason. I knew that if I didn’t start when I was like 12 years old, that it would just end up being too late. So I started literally when I was 12 years old and I met Liz Rose when I was 14 and I really just kind of bullied my way into the circles that I needed to be in. I had a lot bigger balls at 14 than I do now. So I just kind of bullied my way into the right circles that I knew would take care of me and wouldn’t take advantage of me. And thank God it worked out. 

What was your mission with the kind of songs you were writing at the time and how has that shifted since then? 

Well, I think it really started as a… I wanted to perform. I always knew that I wanted to sing and I wanted to perform in front of people. And if songwriting was what was going to get me there, I really made sure to hone in on my craft. So I guess the mission became to write great songs that connect with people so that you can play them for them all over the world. 

You got to gain a whole new audience when you were on The Road. Talk about that experience and how you got yourself into that. 

The Road was definitely a whirlwind of an experience. So one of my dear friends that’s been just a champion of mine for a long time, her name’s Avon. She called me and she works out in LA in Hollywood as a producer and a music supervisor. And she called me and she was like, “Hey, we have this show that I think it would be perfect for. It’s Taylor Sheridan, it’s Blake Shelton, and it’s Keith Urban. You should come do it.” So she called me and I really trusted her because my initial plan wasn’t to do things like that. I didn’t feel like I was made for TV. I didn’t think that I would do anything more than music and songwriting. And I ended up going on The Road and I let it take me as far as it could possibly take me. And then everything was history from that point on because Taylor Sheridan got ahold of me and put me on a bunch of other shows and it’s been crazy. 

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You’ve had several songs air on Dutton Ranch and you’ve gotten to perform on the show. How did it feel to share your music in that way?

It’s honestly really wild to think about because I mean, that stuff just doesn’t happen in the industry. So I really take it with gratefulness and appreciate him seeing something in me that I’ve been trying to get people to see for years and years and years. 

What have you learned from diving into the TV side of things?

Working on set was honestly the hardest I’ve worked in a very long time. Comparative to like manual labor. It’s a lot of hurry up and wait. It’s a lot of, just mentally taxing because you’re just sitting around and you’re waiting. I got ADHD like a crazy person. It’s hard for me to sit around and wait. And then just like the repetitiveness of it. It was so hard, but I gained a whole new respect for acting and how a show runs and the craft of all that. So now what I’m doing is, in respect for the craft, I’m looking forward to learning more about acting and hopefully becoming a better actor myself. 

So it sounds like you’re open to branching out into even more acting in the future?

Oh my gosh. I totally am open to it. I will pretty much do… If Taylor Sheridan calls me and says he wants to put me on a show, I’m going to do it. 

“Crazy Love,” “Heart Shaped Necklace,” and “Ain’t No Jukebox” were all on the series. How did those particular songs get picked for the show?

Well, these songs are actually songs that I’ve been sitting on for literal years. Everyone always underestimates the process of what it takes to put out a song in Nashville. It’s just, for lack of a word, it’s just a bitch to get a song out. Takes so long to record it. And I’ve been sitting on these for literally…”Heart Shaped Necklace” and “Crazy Love” for three years, four years even, and two years for “Ain’t No Jukebox.” So I mean, how these ended up in the show is once again, my friend Avon literally has just been familiarized with my catalog for a long time. And she’s known about those songs and have loved them for a hot minute. And as soon as she found a place for them, she threw them in there. 

Talk about what it was like working with John Osborne to produce “Crazy Love” and seeing that song finally come to life after so many years.

“Crazy Love” for me is such a true representation of me as an artist. I’ve played that song at songwriter rounds for years and years and years and had the same reaction with it from every single place I played it at. And I think that with it finally being out, it’s going to get to have the opportunity to live in a new space. And especially with the way that John O produced it. Working with him has been phenomenal. I’ve never had a producer be so kind and open to trying what I would like to see within my vision. And I mean, it’s been a whirlwind, but it’s also been a long time coming. 

You’re also currently on the road supporting Brothers Osborne. How did you first get connected with them and what led you to work with John in the studio as well?

I got connected with Brothers Osborne, actually, we met on The Road, on that show. So my entire career has basically been just like a big domino effect. I met Brothers Osborne on set of The Road and I mean literally John was just like, “Yeah, I’ll produce her record.” It’s been an honor working with him. I’ve learned so much from him and TJ, especially on the road and how they do their show. They’ve been a great, great, great mentor for me. 

What can you share about this upcoming album? 

I can tell you that I have an album coming out in the early fall. I don’t have a release date yet for you…It’s coming out in the early fall and literally every single song is produced by John O. It is literally the songs that I’ve loved and played on stage from dive bars to stadiums. And I think it’s just a collection of songs that really puts my flag in the dirt and says this is who I am. 

Will you be dropping any more songs before the full project becomes available in the fall?

For sure. “Ain’t No Jukebox” is going to be a single off that project. So that will be coming out next month… So you’ll get one more single before the album. And then the album’s going to be 10 songs of just literally my diary out on my sleeve in front of the whole world for y’all. 

What was the inspiration behind “Ain’t No Jukebox”?

So I made my living in the dive bars in Nashville for years and years and years before I ever did anything of substance to the music industry. And it was really something that helped me cut my teeth and make me a better player, musician and band leader. And I used to be on Broadway singing and somebody would come request a song and I’d make my living literally one song request at a time. They’d request a song. Sometimes I didn’t know it and I’d go, “Well, honey, I ain’t no jukebox” when they get upset about it. So it kind of just came into the writing room as just a silly story of something that I was just saying because it was funny on stage. And I wrote it with Kenny Whitmire and Lee Starr and they helped turn it into an actual song with a storyline. And it honestly is one of those songs that just kept slipping through the cracks in the best way and right down to our feet where we just knew that this is a honky tonk, stomping song. We got to put this on the record. It kind of weaseled its way in.

When you look back on where you started and all the things you’ve accomplished in between, what do you think is the thing that you’re most proud of for accomplishing so far?

I think if I were to choose something to be proud of with just myself, it’s really picking the right team. I’m very thankful that God gave me a good intuition about people and with my specific team…an artist is only as good as their team is and my team’s been incredible. Another thing would probably be just not taking no for an answer. If I quit every time somebody tell me no, I’d have been done 10 years ago. 

Fans can keep up with Cassidy Daniels on Instagram.