Meet Halifax-based singer-songwriter, Cassie Josephine.
Cassie next performs with her band The Cry If I Want To’s at the North Along The Shore Jamboree in Newport on September 21.
20 Questions with Cassie Josephine
1. Your first job.
I worked at a sub shop in my home town when I was a teen. I was terrible.
2. The job you always wanted as a child?
I wanted to be an environmentalist-actor. I had a club called The Get-Along-Gang in the fifth grade, named after a cartoon of the era. We had a day each week when we all wore our ‘Save The Ozone’ t-shirts.
3. Your pet peeve.
When your skirt rides up between your legs when you walk or when I am out of coffee cream in the morning.
4. Your hero.
I admire many people but wouldn’t say I have a particular hero. I think I would giggle with delight if I was in the presence of Michelle Obama. Someone I really admire right now is Greta Thunberg, the 16-year old Swedish climate change activist. If I ever have a daughter, her name will be Marie after my beautiful mother. My dad’s name is Joseph, and so is every other male in my family, but my Dad has taught me that you’re never too old to learn something new.
5. Your biggest indulgence.
Coffee and delicious goodies. I can’t stop. I won’t stop.
6. One thing no one knows about you.
I don’t drive but I did get my license when I was sixteen. I drove for about a year and a half and then got in an accident when I hit black ice and lost control of the car. When I hit the ice, I curled up in the fetal position and screamed “we’re all gonna die”. Nothing happened to me or the car, but driving after that gave me panic attacks so I stopped and haven’t driven since. Also, I have made the world a safer place by taking myself off the road.
7. Three things you would want with you on a deserted island.
Coffee. My cat Rhodora. Sunscreen.
8. The one word your best friend would use to describe you.
Clumsy.
9. If they made a movie about your life, who would it star?
Can I play myself and cast Clive Owen as the man who falls hopelessly in love with me?
10. Hero or villain?
Potato potato.
11. Your life’s motto/mantra.
Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.
12. The last book you read.
I’m part of a book club with the gals I play music with and the last book we read was Erotic Stories For Punjabi Women. It wasn’t a great read, but I enjoyed the erotic stories.
13. The song that is getting the most play right now on your Spotify playlist.
“To The Boys” by Molly Burch, though I’m an iTunes gal.
14. If you were a cartoon character, what cartoon character would you be?
Wile E Coyote from Looney Tunes because I make bad decisions that I have to bounce back from.
15. What will it say on your grave marker?
I’ll leave that for whomever I leave behind to decide but I hope it’s carved on a tree and not on a headstone.
16. Who would you most like to have dinner with?
I’d like to get drunk with William Shakespeare.
17. Your idea of happiness.
It’s morning in New Waterford. I’m sipping coffee on the sofa in my parent’s living room. It’s summer and all my sisters and their families are also visiting. One at a time, the little ones wake up and find a cozy spot in the living room with me. It’s the calm before the storm that is twenty-some people trying to decide on an activity to do together.
18. If you could go back in time, what would you tell your twenty-year-old self?
Learn meditation, yoga, and take guitar lessons.
19. The one thing in your life that makes you most proud.
I’m a good sister, daughter, aunt.
20. To be or not to be?
A mother.
Meet Cassie Josephine
Cassie Josephine is a singer-songwriter originally from New Waterford on Cape Breton Island.
Her band, The Cry If I Want To’s emanate the aesthetic of old country through the sparkle in their delicate, open-hearted tunes and silver shoes.
Cassie’s latest collection of songs, Only Half Blue, is one she thinks of fondly as a fairy tale of middle-aged proportions.
Fun fact, Cassie was in the movie New Waterford Girl. She played Darlene Pottie who had the classic line, “Hey, I’m above the waist!”.
You can find out more information about Cassie online at cassiejosephine.com or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. You can discover Cassie’s music on both Spotify and iTunes.