Q+A with singer-songwriter Casaundra on her upcoming Three Rivers Arts Festival show, her single “Humanity,” teaching at CAPA, and balancing her schedule.
Start your summer with some soul! Casaundra will be performing at the Three Rivers Arts Festival! The singer-songwriter is hitting the Dollar Bank Arts Landing Stage on June 6th (12pm – 1pm).
Her style of R&B and soul can be heard on her stellar single “Humanity.” She’s played at a variety of acclaimed Pittsburgh venues, from the Roxian Theatre to the August Wilson Center. Casaundra is our June Artist of the Month!
Over a phone interview, I talked with her about her upcoming Three Rivers Arts Festival Show, her single “Humanity,” teaching at CAPA, and balancing her schedule.
Starting out
Josh: When did you start singing?
Casaundra: I discovered that I could sing at the age of 6. I grew up in the church with my grandparents. It was our winter concert, and I just happened to be singing one of the songs that the choir was singing, “Away in a Manger.” One of the youth choir directors overheard me singing, and he was like, ‘You know, that was really good. I think you should maybe try out for a solo.’ I didn’t know at the time that it would be my first solo on the stage. It would be the first of many times.
J: Did you have any early musical influences?
C: So my mom played a lot of great music growing up, like Pittsburgh jazz great Rodney McCoy. I listened to Mary J. Blige, Maxwell, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu.
Playing live in Pittsburgh
J: You’ve played a lot of different venues in Pittsburgh, from the Roxian Theatre to the August Wilson Center.
C: So through the SCALE Fellowship, I don’t know if you’re familiar, but it’s in the Pittsburgh area. It’s something that enriches black women in music here. I was part of the 2022 cohort, and I’ve had the pleasure of being able to be on the stage at the Roxian Theatre, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, August Wilson Center. And most recently, Arts Landing.
J: You’re hitting all the big venues.
C: I love that so much. It just means a lot to me being from Pittsburgh, born and raised, you know, to be able to say that I’ve been on those stages with people that have headlined and came into Pittsburgh and have also been on the same stages. I just feel really humbled.
Three Rivers Arts Festival
J: What can fans expect at your Three Rivers Arts Festival show?
C: I have a five piece band. The majority of the songs that we’re doing are my original songs, a combination of my first and second albums. I’m really looking forward to connecting with the crowd.
Original songs
J: Your song “Humanity” has really interesting lyrics—“Where’s the human? We need humanity.” That could be applied to AI in the music industry.
C: Oh man, it’s so funny how that fits. But it can really apply to anything. But thank you for that question. I love when people ask me if I feel like people resonate with this song. After my performance at the NFL Draft, one guy said to me afterwards, ‘Your song “Humanity” really spoke to my heart.’
J: People can relate to the song.
C: I’ve realized that we’re just so disconnected in our daily life. People are less likely to say hello or make eye contact with you. They are on their phone and tuned out, not really tapped into simple everyday things, like acknowledging nature and global warming. And just meeting each other, like, we need each other.
J: How did the writing and recording for the song happen?
C: So there’s a wonderful Pittsburgh musician named Leila Rhodes. She makes and produces songs. I happened to be on her website one day. This particular instrumental caught my ear. I started to write to it and thus became “Humanity.” I recorded it and she was just so ecstatic about it.
J: Do you have a certain recording studio where you like to record?
C: I do switch to other places, but I primarily record at 310 Recording Studio in Monroeville. The owner is Van Taylor. We’ve used him probably for at least the last 10 years, so he kind of knows my rhythm and what I like, how I work, and you know, it’s just easy that way.
J: How’s it feel to perform “Soft Life” live?
C: Oh my gosh, that song is so fun to perform. It kind of speaks to that Afrobeat. It feels good. It’s like a declaration if you will.
Teaching at CAPA
J: You teach at CAPA. How is that?
C: I just had this realization recently. I’m like, ‘I’ve literally been teaching the gospel choir at CAPA High School for 10 years!’ One of my favorite things to do with one of my classes is have them write an original song.
J: This sounds like the best class ever.
C: (laughs) I would hope so.
J: That’s really cool how you give back and help your students.
C: It makes my heart happy.
Balancing the schedule
J: With being a mom and a teacher, how do you fit in singing and recording?
C: That’s a great question, but I think inspiration hits me at any given time. One of my best tools is my voice app on my phone. I record at any given moment. Being at CAPA, my schedule is kind of semiflexible. So in the mornings I have about three free hours in between my kids being at school and then the time I have to be at work. I try to take full advantage of that time. And I usually get maybe a one to two hour session when I can. And also it’s super super helpful that my husband (we met at CAPA), is also creative and he’s very supportive. His schedule is flexible enough that it allows me to do what I need to do.
Learn more about Casaundra and follow her latest updates on Instagram.
Check out last month’s artist of the month here!
This content was provided by a local, independent contributor to Made in PGH, a lifestyle blog.
