CHARDON, Ohio -- Creating music has been a journey of self-discovery for Chardon-based singer Cassidy King. The 22-year-old musician is preparing to release a new EP in May, building off her success in Northeast Ohio’s pop music scene.
The musician has racked up performances at some of Northeast Ohio’s biggest musical events, including EST Fest and Brite Winter, in just a few years of work. Her new EP, “Not So Picture Perfect,” will feature six songs, all centered on her story of falling in -- and out of -- love with a woman.
“I’ve never hated and loved somebody so much in my entire life,” King said about her ex-girlfriend. “The main thesis of [the EP] is finding perfection in imperfections; being perfect in not being perfect.”
That thesis summarizes King’s entire journey in music. The singer has overcome the challenge of staying true to herself in what can be a turbulent business for young creatives.
(Photo by Vince Farone)
King started performing as a young teenager, taking the stage at local talent shows like Chardon Idol. But, King said, singing always seemed to be an unrealistic career path -- until she went to school at Kent State University and a friend encouraged her to post a song performance online in early 2017.
The videos picked up traffic on the platform. King’s 2017 “Ten Toes Challenge” free-styling video now has more than 143,000 views on Twitter. Her following clips continued to amass tens of thousands of views each, demonstrating King’s dedicated fanbase on the platform.
“Twitter videos were the thing that really popped it off. That’s where fans were beginning to show up,” King said.
The videos led King to connections with producers, rappers and singers in Cleveland, who King offered to perform with at every opportunity. In 2017, she connected with a local manager.
The manager, who King didn’t name, ended up being a poor fit for King, who was still inexperienced in Cleveland’s music industry.
“It wasn’t the best situation,” she said. “He tried to completely change who I was. He put into my head that I had to wear makeup, I had to do my hair, wear tight clothes. I listened to him for a while. I was making music he told me to make.”
King, who was 19 years old at the time, stuck with the manager through the end of 2018, putting out a handful of singles along the way.
“I never was going to feel comfortable looking the way those girls did on TV. I don’t wear leotards. I wear bigger clothes,” she said. “I guess I lost myself before I ever got the chance to find myself, through music.”
(Photo by Adam Martin)
In December 2018, at a concert she was headlining, King said she broke down after the show. Peeling off fake eyelashes, wiping away makeup and removing a mesh bun from her hair, King said she felt uncomfortable.
“I remember I had this crazy identity crisis,” she said. “It wasn’t Cassidy from Chardon.”
King decided to distance herself from the manager and to stop making music for the next few months, taking time to reconnect with friends and loved ones.
“It was super scary,” she said. “But if that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have fought for myself.”
After a biking trip with friends in the summer of 2018, King found inspiration again. She poured out new lyrics, collaborating with a friend to write the single “Professional Smiler.” The song explored King’s struggle to find herself musically and personally, with the repeating chorus: “It’s hard sometimes.”
The video arrived in October of 2019 on YouTube, featuring scenes of King kissing another girl. The vulnerable scene was the first time King had been public about her sexuality.
“I did not want to drop that video at first. I was about to kiss a girl; I had never shown anyone that,” King said. “That song and that video were a turning point of my career, just going down the path to being yourself. Being yourself is scary sometimes.”
The video amassed more than 1.7 million views on YouTube, with hundreds of comments. It reached even more listeners on Twitter, Spotify and other social media accounts.
“Professional Smiler” marks a shift toward personal storytelling in King’s career. After releasing the music video, King removed many of her older songs from streaming platforms, leaving just a handful -- “Old Habits,” “Something New,” “Home” and “I Can’t” -- available on her Spotify account. (“I wanted to take them all down, but I left them there for part of a story,” King said. “People like the songs so I left them up there.”)
Since releasing “Professional Smiler,” King released another single, “Polaroid,” in late 2019. Today, she has released the brand-new music video for “Polaroid." Watch it below.
Though King has an impressive track record with millions of streams and major performances, she’s careful when asked about her future goals.
“If you stamp numbers on things, you’ll always be let down,” she said.
King continued: “If I keep working on myself and things I want to accomplish internally -- self love, which I always work on, and growing as a person, and being good to other people, and being humble and staying true to who I am -- those are my goals. I want to keep making music that’s genuine to myself. External things will follow.”
King plans to release the six-song “Not So Picture Perfect” in May, but hasn’t set a date yet. You can find more information about her upcoming concerts, releases and more at her Facebook page.
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