Cassadee Pope Reveals Most Embarrassing 'Voice' Moment, Talks New Album 'Stages'

Cassadee Pope became a rising talent in country music after winning The Voice Season 3 as part of Blake Shelton's team. Before this, she made a dent in the music world by fronting pop-punk band Hey Monday.

A lot has changed for the singer, now 29, since she dropped her debut record Frame by Frame in 2013. The biggest change of them all came in 2017 when she decided to exit her label, BMLG records. This, among other bumps along the way, became the precursor for her sophomore effort Stages—an album she said helms a title with "a double meaning" as it highlights various stages in her life and as she prepares to perform it on stages nationwide on two separate tours.

Pope spoke with Newsweek about making Stages, being on The Voice, her friendship with Blake Shelton, and more.

1. Pope said the inspiration behind her sophomore effort Stages came from the various ongoings in her life, both good and bad, leading up to its release.

"The story I was aiming to tell with Stages was my story and what happened over the last two years. There was a big life change all happening all at one time. There was a breakup from a long-term relationship. There was me leaving my record label, management, publishing—leaving all of it and just sort of starting from scratch. The record really tells this story of me going through the pain and the heartbreak of that feeling of loss, and then finding myself again and finding a new love. The cool thing about this record is life sort of happened during the making of it...It's a rollercoaster ride of an album, but that's because that's what my life's been like over the last two years."

2. While Pope is unsure of what will be her next single from Stages, she said 'How I Feel Right Now' is in the running.

"I don't know what the next single off the album will be after my current single, 'If My Heart Had a Heart.' The nice thing about being independent is I can kind of bob and weave as I go and see what happens with this current song. So it'll all depend on how it does and the story I want to continue to tell, which order I want to tell it. I'm still kind of figuring that out. I'm really going to lean on the fans a lot for their feedback…'How I Feel Right Now,' that's a contender."

3. Pope wants for her band and crew on her headlining CMT Next Women in Country Tour to have an equal amount of men and women.

"I'm actually still putting the band together. I just really want there to be equal opportunity in my band and crew for women and men. I don't want it to all be one thing. I want it to be split down the middle. So that's kind of what I'm putting all my energy in right now. There's going to be a lot of new songs in the set. I'm pushing the album, so definitely new stuff. There's going to be a few songs in there that I haven't played in a long time that I've sort of forgotten about from Frame by Frame, my first record. So, I'll bring those back and incorporate a cover or two."

4. Pope explained the 'funny' story that led to her opening for her friend, country singer Maren Morris, on her upcoming Girl: World Tour.

"The Maren Morris tour came about in a really funny way. I texted her last year because I was thinking about this year and how I don't have a tour. So I texted her and was like, 'Hey girl. If you're heading out on a tour and you need somebody to open a few shows, I'll pack my guitar and come meet you if it's close by.' She said: 'That's so funny. I just finished the proposal to send to you with my team to open Girl: World Tour.'"

5. Pope shared her favorite memory from being on Season 3 of The Voice.

"The memory of winning was pretty damn good but I think my favorite Voice memory was [when] I'd just finished 'Stupid Boy,' which was a risk for me because I knew it was a hard song to really pull off. It's kind of a linear song, but I really wanted to take it and make it voicey. I, for some reason, was just unhappy with my performance. I went to the dressing room and was crying. Blake [Shelton] came in and he was like, 'Ok, I'm just going to show you something and hopefully it makes you feel better.' He pulled up iTunes and 'Stupid Boy' was number one on iTunes...That really lifted my spirits."

6. Pope said her most embarrassing memory during her time on The Voice involved her forgetting to wear deodorant.

"We shot two episodes in one night because we were trying to cut a day of filming out for Thanksgiving because they were shooting during Thanksgiving time. I forgot to put deodorant on and it was on the night you find out if you stay or go. Clearly, I'm nervous. I'm sweating. I got through, and it was great. Then, I came back to my senses and realized, 'Oh my gosh, somebody didn't put on deodorant.' And it was me!"

7. Pope is in contact with her former The Voice coach Blake Shelton.

"I actually did my album release show at Blake's bar in Nashville, called Ole Red. He was so sweet and tweeted it out and got people to come and show up. He's just always been super supportive and he'll always be a big part of my journey."

8. Pope's favorite musical acts include Shania Twain and Ariana Grande.

"I definitely have always loved Shania Twain. That's a huge influence for me. Everything she stands for and she's just a great entertainer. I've always loved a lot of different kinds of music from Shania and Martina McBride and Faith Hill to Blink-182 and Foo Fighters, Fall Out Boy. On the pop side, I love Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande and Troye Sivan. I love them all for so many different reasons."

9. If Pope wasn't a singer, she would want to be an actress.

"If I wasn't a singer, I'd be an actress because it's another form of entertaining and I really like to just be on stage and entertaining people...I've done a little acting but I played myself a few times in shows, so it kind of doesn't count. In my music videos, I've in the past have done some acting in them. I kind of take advantage of that opportunity to stretch that muscle and it's really fun. It's hard, but I'd love to dive in eventually."

10. Pope said she'd 'love' to do a duet with her boyfriend, The Princess Switch star Sam Palladio.

"I would love to do a duet with Sam. We've talked about it. During the making of my record, it was a very precious project to me in a sense of like I want these songs to obviously tell the story of what's happened over the last few years but I also kind of want to keep it focused on me and what I have to say. [I] eventually would love to bring him in for something….A duet's bound to happen at some point."