When Jason Cassidy was a kid, he wanted to be a rock star (who didn’t?). But the electric guitar and lessons he got at 13 didn’t take. Country music, however, did.
Inspired by a buddy who could name every country tune as soon as it came on the radio, the competitive Cassidy started listening. “I totally fell in love with country music and learned every song I could,” he recalls. “Before long, I was the one who was calling out all the songs.”
His musical journey began in a small church in New Caney, Texas at age 13. He belted out his first solo performance to the Dawson McCallister tune "Jesus Is Here To Stay" to a full sanctuary with the youth group backing him like a chanting choir. But it was many years later that someone heard him delivering a George Strait tune in a karaoke bar that Cassidy’s musical dreams began to take flight. Impressed by his rich, expressive tone and range, a band that had just lost its lead singer approached him about taking the gig. A few weeks later, he was fronting a popular Houston-area country cover act.
And now, he’s fronting his own band and has released his debut album, MY REDEMPTION, on Houston-based A-Blake Records. His single, ““Honky Tonk Heaven,” took the #1 spot on the charts, thanks in part to catchy lyrics, Cassidy’s vocal delivery, and his hard work and determination.
Of course, even a storybook beginning...like being discovered in a karaoke bar...doesn’t always translate into a fairytale career. Cassidy admits he “wanted to write” but had to grow through a partying phase before the “fire was lit in 2009 and I was really ready to take charge of my future as an artist.”
In October of that year, he met Brandi, who inspired him to begin composing and helped him rediscover his spiritual side. "She invited me to church and it was just the right time to make my return,” said the dusty Christian. Cassidy wrote the title song “My Redemption” on the way home from a fellowship session that November.
“I called my cousin and songwriting partner, Justin Jones, and sang him what I had so far. He said ‘I’m on my way,’” Cassidy recalls. “We moved some things around and made the best sense of the message I was trying to get across. >From that moment on I felt like I was reborn.” That was the genesis of many songs and his debut album, which features co-writes with several friends and colleagues.
He may be a newcomer when it comes to fluent songwriting, but Cassidy is making up for lost time. Boasting a sound that Billboard's Tom Roland described as a “clear dedication to tradition,” Cassidy could go lyric-for-lyric with any Nashville word-slinger. And his voice, which scales from a resonant baritone to a melodic high tenor, outdoes plenty of Music Row’s biggest award collectors.
Right now, Cassidy isn’t waiting for much. He’s been visiting radio across the country and playing shows like crazy, burning it up on stage with a band that is as good as it gets. On fiddle is Scott "Skittle" Johnson (who toured with Charlie Daniels when he was all of 17!); on guitar is John Towslee; on drums is Spencer Booth; and Scott McMahon on the bass.
Jason is looking forward to rebuilding his vintage car collection – he began rebuilding hot-rods with his dad when he was 13. "While all my friends were going out and getting drunk, I was working around the clock to build my next ride, I would follow my dad to the car shows every weekend while my buddies were tearing down the night clubs and crashing house parties." One of the latest hot-rods Jason built was a orange and white 1961 bubble top Impala, which has been in many magazines and made the Good Guys monthly issue about six times. Although, he hasn't built a car in many years, he has a new way to fill that void; he now enjoys spending time with his family, partaking in anything outdoors, and scheduling as many hunting trips as he can squeeze into his busy schedule!
Even though he no longer has the time for his old partying ways, he’ll still “pop a cold one” now and then, if only to celebrate how he’s turned his life around; he’s got God, a beautiful family, an amazing team around him, and a career that’s right on track. He's says he is “completely satisfied with that and everything else is just a huge bonus!”
It already sounds like a happy ending but, if all goes well, there will be many more chapters to come. With lyrics and melodies too...preferably onstage at one of those awards shows.
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