Cassadee Pope – I Wish I Could Break Your Heart (Live on The Voice, December 10, 2013)

Cass is one of the few The Voice winners who actually stuck to her title and is still actively living, working and recording on the road all-year round.

After her Voice Season 3 win in December of last year, she used that momentum to plunge into her musical career—securing gigs on radio tours across country, touring withRascal Flatts and The Band Perry, recording and releasing a new album Frame by Frame (released in early October) accompanied by a personal CMT docu-series, and even performing at prestigious places such as the Grand Ole Opry.

She took Nashville by storm and stole America’s hearts with her sweetness and utter genuinity on The Voice, that her influence and effect has stayed with many.

It amazes me how much this girl is able to keep her cool all throughout being constantly on the road and never blinking an eye at the opportunity to play music somewhere. (After all, she has the sweetest fans and hardest rocks in her life to keep her spirits up!) She never seems to be lounging around as she’s always in a different city doing something new. And that’s inspiring—to see such hard work ethic and such a genuine devotion to her craft. She knows this industry and knows how to love it at the same time.

This isn’t the first time that Cass has returned to The Voice stage, as TV-audiences last saw her premiere her first single “Wasting All These Tears” last June. She returned last week at the semi-finals show to premiere her second single, “I Wish I Could Break Your Heart,” in which she was later presented with her 1st gold plaque for more than 50+ million copies of her first single being sold.

Well golly gee! This girl’s doing her thang and rocking it. Although many are still bewildered by her pop-rock turned country-gig going on, it’s important to note that she did grow up doing country, and her “new sound” is only paying homage to what she grew up on and what she’s grown into—a rock chick with a country blue-eyed soul.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since this whole Cass thing really grew onto me… but, every time I come back to her, I just remember all the hard work it takes. The work ethic in music. The passion that goes with it. The never-ending trials and tribulations. The goodness of character you can still uphold. Being truly yourself. And owning it… But knowing what exactly you’re doing in this industry while loving it at the same time. She’s inspiring just for who she is—and you can’t help but love her for it. Xo