Cassadee Pope

“I do feel grateful, and I love what I'm doing, and I'm happy, and I'm living in the moment, but I also have my eye on the long game and the big prize, and that is just to make this a life-long career. To make a big enough impact on everybody to stick around for a long time.”

“I really love that song. I love when people cover songs that are familiar but have been kind of forgotten about. So when you play it, it takes people back to a certain place. That's what I wanted for 'Torn.'”

“There's something about being onstage, singing my lyrics to somebody and them either listening and receiving them, or singing them back to me, that I just can't get enough of.”

“I'm pretty hard on myself when it comes to my voice, and certain notes I'm afraid to hit because I'm afraid I'm going to sound bad.”

“I have ventured out and written about real-life experiences that I haven't gone through myself, but I've known people to go through them. In the past, I've always written about my experiences and people related to that, but there's a lot of other things that I've never written about that people have gone through.”

“I went through all these different phases in my life. And now, I'm finally in a place where I know who I am; I just needed that extra push. I feel really, really good in the position I'm in right now, and I don't feel like I completely neglected my pop-rock sound: I was able to bring it in with my country roots.”

“My style is kind of all over the place. I've always loved the combination of leather and lace, but that's probably just been something that I fall back on if I can't really figure out what to wear.”

“I feel like Nashville has really embraced me with open arms. I was a little worried at first; you know, everybody knows about my immediate past, which is rock music. But everyone is coming to find out that I've been singing country music my whole life.”

“When I was 17, my main goal was to be in a band and travel the world. I ended up getting to do that with my old band Hey Monday. I got to see the world and learn how to tour, and the next thing I knew, I was on 'The Voice.' So it was just a crazy, crazy ride.”

“A few girls would be catty and say that my voice sounded really high, and I sang like a chipmunk, I got a few prank calls about that a few times. But it didn't really bother me that much. I think I was so focused on music that nothing could break me or get in my way.”

“Growing up, my parents loved Bon Jovi and Boston and Rush and all that, but it wasn't really connecting with me. I was still in my boy-band phase - Backstreet Boys for life!”

“I love country and rock, and I wanted to fuse them together. But I also knew that there were certain elements that needed to still be there to be both country and cater to my old fans.”

“We're all complex creatures, and we shouldn't have to pick one thing to be passionate about. Life isn't black and white, so we shouldn't live that way.”

“I love writing with really experienced producers and co-writers who open my mind to things I never would have thought otherwise. We may think the same way about something, but they might say it in a way that I never would have thought to say it.”

“I know people always say to get out of your comfort zone and take risks, but when you are on a live national television show, and you are competing to stay on it, then I don't think you should be uncomfortable up there. I think you should sell it and be your own best self.”

“I've always kept writing. There's never been a moment where I went through a spell where I just don't write.”

“I always felt in my band and in the pop-rock format that I wasn't weird enough, that I wasn't standing out enough. Wearing things to get people's attention - I didn't want to do any of that. I didn't want to compromise myself.”

“Certain people were more of the arms-crossed kind of radio people that weren't sure about me.”

“I would say, maybe from five years on, I sang on stages constantly. That's what I call my natural habitat: It's a place where I feel most like myself and the most confident, the most excited.”

“Anytime I can watch television, I usually do the reality show stuff unless it is, of course, 'Breaking Bad' or 'Homeland.' Then, I am all over it.”