Cassie Fireman has always had a deep love for people and music. However, it wasn’t until her mid-30s she pursued singing professionally. With no previous training, she went from writing songs in her bedroom to becoming the lead singer of the popular indie folk rock band Dirty Mae, touring several states along the east coast and playing over 90 shows. She was also hand selected by Adam Duritz ( Lead singer of Counting Crows) to perform at his Underground Sunshine festival in NYC. This past year, Cassie has gone on to create her own style of sultry pop music and recorded her first solo album titled “Thin Air” . We had the pleasure to catch up with Cassie to discuss her career and current projects.
Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. For readers unfamiliar with your background, how were you drawn to a career in music?
I can always remember loving to write and sing from a young age. I was totally inspired seeing Elvira perform at Universal Studios as a kid. She was dressed in all black leather singing her heart out with smoke rising all around her. I remember thinking “What? Could I also, someday do this?”.
I’ve studied theater and acting and I’m a sucker for a good story so when you combine all those things together and hand me a mic, it’s like I just stepped into my favorite candy store.
Writing music and singing has been medicine for me. Whenever I feel like I’m in a rough spot, I go listen to or write music. It helps me kinda get to the other side of whatever I’m going through.
Overall, I think I was drawn to a career in music when I discovered my heart’s favorite language is songwriting. Whenever I invest in my music I feel like I’m investing in myself and the return is always so much more rewarding than I’d expected.
Who are your musical influences?
When I think of who I listened to growing up Jewel, Ani Difranco, Alanis Morrissette, Tori Amos, Regina Spektor, Janis Joplin, Norah Jones, and Tracy Chapman come to mind. My dad loves classic rock so we were always listening to Bob Seger, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynard Skynar, Queen, or the Eagles playing on road trips or whenever we’d run errands in the car so I’m sure they all had an influence on me in one way or another.
Please tell us more about life as the lead singer of the indie folk rock band Dirty Mae.
Well, I was briefly in this band I created called The Panty Droppers and my husband was in another band called Danny Fingers (great band) but people were moving and changing and the band broke up. Robbie, Ben, and I started jamming in my living room. (Robbie and Ben (my husband) were both in Danny Fingers). We noticed quickly we had this cool chemistry and sound between us. Before we knew it we were rehearsing every week, had written an album, and went on tour playing shows almost every night for a month in a halt.
Me, my husband, and a bunch of 20-something-year-old dudes in a van, driving from Maine all the way down to TN and back to NY. It was a lot of driving, little sleep, and one of the best times of my life.
Your own style of sultry pop music is exhibited in your first solo album titled ‘Thin Air’. Please tell us more about the origins of the album (Note: please share your experiences working and collaborating with other musicians and the impact and direction this had on your career)
Thin Air is the first song I released. I recorded this song and all the other songs (soon to be released) on my album (except for one), with Jordan Sherman and Monique Benabou.
I started writing my album around the time the pandemic hit. It was a rocky time in my life for a lot of reasons and I needed time and space to figure out whatever I was going through. I ended up writing a bunch of songs and was introduced to Jordan who I met through Mo. I ended up flying out to LA and we all drove to Joshua tree, stayed in a house together, and recorded there. I had never met them before.
This album turned out to be pretty personal and I just think these stories I was holding onto needed to come out and they expressed themselves as songs.
Recording felt super vulnerable but Jordan and Mo are both talented artists themselves and know how to create and hold space in ways that are encouraging and supportive. I’m a big fan of their music as well and highly recommend checking them out (you can follow them on Instagram @iamjordansherman and @moniquebenabou).
You’ve just dropped your latest track titled ‘Chase’. Please tell us more about the track and the making of the video
To me, this song is about stepping into the unknown and seeing color for the first time in a world you believed could only be black and white. Marriage has been like that for me. I’ve been afraid of long-term commitment my whole life and while I don’t think that fear will ever fully go away, Chase is a reflection that things can sometimes turn out better than you expected.
You’ve successfully combined your appetite for music with a passion for human and animal rights. Please tell us more about your music and wellness retreats in Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua.
Thanks for asking. Ya, we try to take our participants to the Howler Monkey refuse each year in Costa Rica. There’s a lot of houses being built in the area where we host our music retreats, and a lot of tree lines being cut down. Unpadded electrical wires get set up in their place and when monkey’s lose their tree lines (which help them to get their food), they are forced to travel across unpadded wires and often get electrocuted and severely injured. As visitors, I think it’s important to know about the land and surrounding life so we can help sustain it. Over time, it’s become a ritual to take our music group to the refuge each year. In Nicaragua we did a concert to raise awareness about protecting baby turtle eggs from poachers and shared about how integral they are to our oceans ecosystem. Now, whenever we do a music retreat we include doing something positive for the planet and it actually ends up helping us connect to one another on a deeper level.
Please tell us more about Big Red Fest- all Women’s Festival in New York City benefiting survivors of domestic violence.
I’d love to have another Big Red Fest! Basically, I got together with a bunch of my friends who are also incredibly talented artists and we performed hours of music, burlesque, and comedy in New York City.I led a women’s march from Washington Square park to the venue with a 15-piece brass band. We were all wearing Big Red riding hood cloaks and carrying signs like “Free the Vulva”.
I remember it started pouring rain but we didn’t care and just kept marching and dancing through the streets. I arrived with everyone just in time to start the show. I was soaking wet and had to run up the same set of stairs that I had to turn right back around and walk down as the music unexpectedly started. I tried my best not to slip while singing in my drenching wet cape coming down the spiral staircase.
We featured paintings from local artists that hung all over the walls. It was a packed house and a pretty special event. All the proceeds went to buying socks and food vouchers for a local shelter Women’s shelter in Queens. Ben, Robbie, and I brought all the stuff over and played a private concert for the people there.
Congratulations on your achievements as an artist and influencer. Is there a particular event or milestone in your career you are the proudest of and why?
Thank you. I feel proud to have played at Finger Lakes Grassroots and Shakori Hill Festivals this year with my band. Some of our favorite artists like Driftwood, The Blind Spots, and Donna and The Buffalo all played there too so it was really special to see everyone again. I’m also pretty proud of my new album.
What other projects are you currently working on?
I’ll be releasing 4 new songs with 3 music videos from my album over the next few months so I’m really excited to see the music I’ve been working on over the past few years out there..finally. This week I’m recording with a close friend and fellow artist Dashielle Vawter at Sunwood Studios in Trumansberg, NY. I plan to have an album release party in June, my band is playing at Inclusion fest in July and I hope to play a few more festivals and offer song songwriting retreats this summer.
Where can our readers find out more about you?
Here are links to everything I hope you enjoy and thanks for listening!
Youtube: Cassie Fireman – Chase [OFFICIAL]
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/artist/34sWUERnoYFFpGFc1qhOpl Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cassiefireman/thinair-0112
Personal Website: https://www.cassiefireman.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassie_fireman/?hl=en
Costa Rica Music Retreat: https://www.balancedguitar.com/com/
Dirty Mae Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirtymaemusic/?hl=en
Dirty Mae Website: https://www.dirtymae.
Watch out for Cassie’s forthcoming single ‘Time to Go’ this March 10th!
Photo credits Peter Hurley (Main) and JJ wolf
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