We’re looking forward to introducing you to Cassia Dawn. Check out our conversation below.
Cassia, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
Yes! In general I’ve been trying to be braver when it comes to speaking my opinion on controversial topics. I tend to not want to ruffle feathers, but lately when someone says something I disagree with, I’ve been asking more questions, trying to understand and present small bits of hopefully thought provoking perspective.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Cassia Dawn. I am a Singer/Songwriter originanlly from the Pacific Northwest, but living in Nashville. I tell people my music is Norah Jones meets Jack Johnson. I also love playing with genre, writing music about the in between spaces in life with an optimistic outlook on the future.
I just put out an EP “Life is Like a Latte” which is a collection of customer service and coffee themed songs. I am a barista as well, so it was a fun project to work on. I find that people in the customer service space tend to feel overlooked and I wrote the album as a way of relating to their lives.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
That’s a difficult question, I lost 3 family memebers before I was 6, so in many ways I’ve lived my life as if anything could be taken away at any time. It’s only recently that I’ve been working on grieving those people and reminding myself that it’s okay to live even though they are not on this earth. I’ve also been working on really taking in the moment and instead of being afraid of feeling in case things go wrong, I’m trying to appreciate what I have in that particular moment with that person.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Oh so many times! As a working musician(but also one that has a day job.) There have been so many times I’ve wondered if I should just get a more stable career, invest more money so I can buy a house etc… Wondering if what I’m doing matters if only a few hundred or thousand people hear it. The last couple years have been very introspective for me as I moved to Nashville from Oregon to pursue music 3 &1/2 years ago. Since then I’ve tried to remind myself that I want to die with no regrets. If things don’t work out, I can pivot, but not without knowing I did what I could to make things happen for me.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
I think one of the biggest lies many musicians believe is that the value in their art is only in the numbers of people that hear it.
In my experience there is a lot of fear around “not making it” and feeling like a failure if your metrics aren’t “enough.”
There’s the scary question of who am I if this doesn’t work out? There is so much pressure to be further and I personally almost always feel behind. There’s an unhealthy comparison in the indie music world where we’re comparing ourselves to curated content we see from other musicians. It takes time to find your sound, to get enough money to fund a decent recording, to write really solid songs, but so often we’re seeing someone elses finished product and judging our own work in progress.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
This is such a good question!
I think I would care a lot less of what people think of me.
As I mentioned previously, something I’m trying to grow in is learning to kindly stand up for what I believe.
I feel like if I knew I was going to die in 10 years, it would put into perspective how little what people think of me matters in contrast to who I know I am and what I want to contribute to the world.
I also think I would probably move to be closer to my parents and I would continue writing music that’s would be meaningful to the people I would leave behind.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.3sistersartists.com/cassiadawn/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassiadawnsingersongwriter/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cassiadawnsingersongwriter
- Other: EPK – https://www.3sistersartists.com/cassiadawn-epk/
Image Credits
Shannnon Winegar
Michael Steszyn
Sheyenne Rivers
