Music
Ashley Joy Parker
Country, Career & Community: "The Voice" Alumni Casi Joy Celebrates New Music Video With Exclusive Loop Interview
- Brianna Rose Hewitt
- January 19, 2024
“What stays the same with country music is you’re always going to hear the truth…”
When one thinks of country music, Casi Joy describes it best: “You’re always going to hear a lot of storytelling.” The up and coming country artist has quite a story herself. A Kansas City native, Joy’s been singing since she was a child, originally starting with Midwest opry circuits before receiving a Radio Disney contract at 14 years old. Back in 2017, she stunned judges on The Voice with her blind audition of LeAnn Rimes 1996 song, “Blue,” which Rolling Stones ranked as one of the show’s best blind auditions in their 2017 article.
“I kind of just fell into it. I fell in love with performing and being on stage and being able to impact a crowd with either my voice or what I was doing on stage or what I was talking about. My parents saw how much I loved it and kind of just let me run with it,” Joy told Loop Magazine in an exclusive interview.
“My mom started booking me shows around the country and just getting me onto any stage possible that we could find, and that’s kind of what I’ve been doing ever since.”
Each year Joy has evolved with her music, originally putting out covers and EPs. In 2018, she released a full length Christmas album filled with everyone’s favorite holiday hits and since has released a couple holiday and original singles. However, 2023 was a monumental year for the “The Tree and Me” singer as she released her first full length original album, Miles and Maybe.
Putting out a project like this takes a lot of time and energy for any artist. When asked what makes Miles and Maybes different from her previous work, Joy explained that she put a lot more time and patience into the pieces, and that, “This one, I wrote way more than enough songs, and then got to shift through them. And usually I am chomping at the bit to release a new project, and so then I write just enough songs, and then we release the project.”
However, “this time I was like, ‘No, we’re going to do it right. We’re not going to pick a release date right away. We’re going to write more than enough, and then we’re going to sit down and organize this thing.’ And so, it was very difficult to cut songs from the list,” Joy told Loop.
Miles and Maybes is now available on all major streaming platforms, where one can listen to Joy showcase her amazing singing voice. But a little fun fact is Joy is a woman with many layers and singing is not the only musical talent she has. Believe it or not, she can also yodel and learned entirely through self-teaching!
Loop was astounded at the level of dedication Joy put into this craft, and the fact that there were no professional yodeling teachers in the Midwest. If they were anywhere, one would think they would be there. With only herself and mother as resources, Joy walked us through her journey, saying, “I kind of became a chameleon and then slowly figured out how to do it, and then we would find cooler yodeling songs.”
Throughout her childhood, “my mom and I would have to drive all around the Midwest to these really old CD stores that would have these old yodeling competition CDs, and yeah, that’s how we found all those old songs.”
When not yodeling, song writing or performing, Joy resides in Nashville with her two rescue dogs Tuna Fish and Danny Boy. She’s a proud Swiftie and loves doing volunteer work. “If we are able to make it work with our schedule and our travels, then we’re always going to say’ yes,’” she told Loop during our Q&A.
To see more from our Q&A where Joy gives us insights on her love and history with country music, song writing process, upcoming music video, go-to Nashville and Kansas City spots, love for Taylor Swift and more, keep scrolling!
What made you gravitate towards country music?
My mom has a lot to do with that. When she was trying to find any stage ever that would have a 10 year old, country music was very welcoming. There were these opry circuits around the midwest where you could go and sing classic country music with a house band. My mom would show me all these classic country songs, and a lot of them were by really young female artists like Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes, and that really showed me what was possible in music, and with country music. So yeah, I give my mom a lot of credit to my love of country music.
In March of this year, you released Miles & Maybes. What makes this album different from your previous releases?
So this one was different in a lot of ways. It was the first full length original album I had put out. I had released a cover album and then the Christmas album, and two EPs which are a little shorter. […] But writing this one was very therapeutic and just going through my journey in life and in music so far, and the ups and downs that come with it.
Do you have a favorite song from Miles and Maybes?
Oh gosh…honestly, I think “Senseless Fail” is one of my favorites. I am really really proud of that one. That’s one I solo wrote, and that’s one that really transformed in the studio. I wrote it on piano, and what happened in the studio was just magical. I was crying the whole time.
When you are not touring, you write music. Where do you get your inspiration from?
Definitely my life. Sometimes it’s other people’s lives and what’s going on around me, but most of the time, it’s very, very personal. I sometimes try to broaden it for the audience and not go so personal. I always find myself writing very specific things. I mean it’s always my diary. I use songwriting as a form of therapy, and it fully comes out on the album.
You have a music video coming out soon. Can you give us a sneak peak around it/what we can expect?
If you’ve seen any of my other music videos, you know that we like to have a really good time. We always use a level of humor in the videos, and not taking ourselves too seriously. And for this one, I really wanted to showcase my love of things thrifty and coupons. I love Dollar General. And just kind of showcasing that whether it’s treasure or junk, at the end of the day, stuff is just stuff. And just that money isn’t everything, and you can still get a bank for your buck and look awesome if all your makeup comes from the dollar store, which mine did today.
You have a talent of yodeling. How did you get into this?
Well, you’ll never guess it, but my mom, again. Man, we should get her down here as a guest speaker here. My mom showed me LeAnn Rimes. I was younger, and I think the first one I heard was “Blue,” and that ended up being my blind audition song on The Voice. And I actually couldn’t sing that song for a very, very long time. It’s kind of different to yodel on an “uu/ooo” vowel, but she also showed me “Cowboy Sweetheart,” and that to me is more of a real yodel. And when I heard that, I was just…my mind was blown. I had no idea what that was, and I just got really interested in trying to figure out how to make my voice do that.
Do you have a favorite celebrity or audience you have performed for?
One time I found out, after the show, thank God because I might have passed out on stage, but one time I found out the Jonas Brothers were in the show that I played, and I’m pretty glad that I didn’t know at the time. Who knows how I would have sounded or what would have happened at that show.
But I think my favorite audience I performed for was last year I got to sing the National Anthem at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl Parade in front of almost a million people, and you know, it’s Kansas City, it’s my hometown, so it was very, very special.
You give friendship bracelets out at shows. What inspired you to start this? Did Taylor Swift inspire this?
Big Swiftie here, and I just love how much of a community it creates with the friendship bracelets. After going to the Eras concert, then I started seeing schools were doing friendship bracelets at events and other companies and stuff, and I was like, how cool that has become such a movement almost. It’s almost like back in elementary school when you would give out warm fuzzies and stuff. And I feel like it’s like that, and I was like, “You know, I want that to become a thing at my shows too. People are already trading friendship bracelets for other reasons at shows, so we started to add our gown “Got Joy” ones and then kids will make ones with my songs which I’m wearing right now with “Good Vibes” from [my song] “The Money.” I just love what a sense of community it creates.
Do you have a favorite Taylor Swift song or era?
Oh gosh….era, 1989, waiting for Reputation [Taylor’s Version], any day now. My favorite song is probably “My Tears Ricochet” though.
You’ve done countless charity work. How do you choose which causes and charities to work with?
Yeah, if you read the list, you see we have a hard time saying “no” to anything charitable. If we are able to make it work with our schedule and our travels, then we’re always going to say “yes,” but I definitely gravitate towards anything with animals, rescue and children, as well. I come from a background in a family of educators, so children’s welfare is always going to be at the forefront of my mind. And just giving a voice to the voiceless, and that includes rescue animals as well.
Do you have any pre-show or post-show rituals?
I do a lot of singing through little coffee straws, it’s a trick that one of the vocal coaches taught me on The Voice, and then we always like to jam out to some really crazy music. We will throw on some metal, some Amon Amarth, like some crazy death metal. We really get the band pumped, and then yeah, we go out there and get it. We always say, “See you at the end!”
Here at Loop, we are a nightlife magazine, how would you say country music fits into the realm of nightlife?
I mean with country music, we are talking lots of dancing. When we get to play at shows where they have the big dance floors and there’s lots of line dancers, it is the most entertaining thing to watch from the stage. It’s like crazy people swinging and spinning around. I mean country music listeners know how to party, that is for sure.
What is your go-to drink?
Usually my go-to drink is Red Bull Vodka. I know it’s terrible for me, I’m never going to stop. Or Jack and Diet.
Do you have any favorite spots in Kansas City or Nashville?
In Nashville, we love to go to the Greenhouse Bar. It’s just an adorable place that’s a full on greenhouse inside. So if you’ve kind of got the winter blues, you can always go there, and there is such beautiful natural lighting and all the plants. It’s super vibey. And for Kansas City, I would definitely go with Chicken N’ Pickle. You can go and get a drink, you can also bring your family, you can bring your dog, you can play some pickleball, and they have incredible food as well.
What would you say to people who are reluctant to listen to country music?
I would say country music is such a broad genre, so if you don’t like country music, it might be that you don’t like that style of country music. Even Lainey Wilson’s country music to Kelsea Ballerini’s style of country music are very, very different. That’s why it’s such a cool genre, and what stays the same with country music is you’re always going to hear the truth […], and just kind of saying it like it is, which I love. And with country artists, there’s so many options on how to play the truth, which I love.
What’s next for you/what can fans expect?
You can expect lots of new music! I’m so excited to release the Low Brow Luxe music video. And yeah, lots of new music in the new year. I was actually working on half of a song before this interview. And tons of tour dates as well!
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