Cassandra Coleman’s long-awaited debut single, “Habit” is finally here. The American Idol season 19 alum co-wrote the song with Hadley Kennary and her fellow season 19 singer, Hunter Metts.
Not one for spending time on social media, Cassandra shares with her fans thoughts on finally releasing an original song.
“I’m not the most eloquent, and as always, I waited until the last minute to do this, but here are some words about Habit,” Cassandra writes on Instagram.
“Thank you to everyone of you who has loved, supported and encouraged me. You have made my life so much more beautiful than I could’ve imagined. There’s (unnecessarily) been so much pressure in this first song, but it’s been so freeing to be loved right where I’m at while I work on my own music,” Cassandra shares. “I’m growing and learning and changing and leaning into who I was designed to be and you all have played a huge part in giving me the courage to do that. I am forever indebted.”
While Cassandra has been quiet this past year, she promises more projects to come. “This is just the beginning of music,” Cassandra says. “It’s funny how no matter what goal you overcome, a new fear manages to find its way in and replaces the one you’ve just pushed past.”
“Writing took the place of my fear of stages”
On American Idol, Cassandra’s story was about dealing with stage fright. She still managed to wow the judges and viewers anyway. But after Idol, Cassandra admits, “writing took the place of my fear of stages,” She adds, “Just like so many of you experienced me in the baby stages of performing, this is the beginning of an era of song writing. I hope you’ll stick around for this journey.”
She thanks her songwriters: “Thank you to Hunter Metts for being the best hype man a friend could ask for. Asking me to write in our off time on the show..sitting with me for hours while I’d struggle with articulating what I want to say.” She adds, “He’s a conduit for creativity and so incredibly talented. I’m honored to know him and call him a friend.”
In comments, Hunter responds, “So proud of you Cassandra. An artist through and through.”
“Thank you to Hadley Kennary for her beautiful way with words the way she was able to tap into my feelings and help me express myself..wording things that are delicate to express exactly the right way..Listening to me and making me feel seen..A lovely soul inside and out.”
“Thank you to Melissa Mattey for mastering this song on a time crunch and being ever so gracious and generous with her time,” Cassandra continues, “You’re a force to be reckoned with and I’m thankful to be in your orbit.”
Listen to Cassandra Coleman’s debut single “Habit”
The bittersweet breakup song is about how feelings of love dissipate, but they never go away entirely.
Cassandra continues with the thank yous: “Thank you to Scott Krueger, my stand-in manager, co-writer, producer and friend. I’m so thankful to know you. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been obsessed with Scott’s band, Elliot Root for years. After the show I reached out, completely unaware of the impact he would have in my life. He was one of the first people I ever wrote with and I was a nervous wreck,” Cassandra shares, “He continually has believed in me and pushed me forward and been my therapist and biggest supporter..I’m so excited for you guys to hear the projects with have coming down the pipeline!!”
“Thank you to Meredith Joi/Maiden and Moon Photo for generously donating her time and talent to shoot this. She was such a joy to work with and was so invested into helping me get what I wanted out of this shoot. So thankful for her lovely heart. ”
“I don’t take any of it for granted.”
Cassandra shot a visualizer, apparently, but she has not posted it yet. “Thank you to Hunter Candari for last minute agreeing to make a visualizer for Habit!!! Such a kind soul and he met me at 6 am in the middle of nowhere to record this!! What a guy. So talented.”
Thank you to everyone.. To YAHWEH for clearly showing me that it’s not arrogant for me to pursue music, but leaning into his design. I don’t take any of it for granted. I love you all so freaking much. I hope you enjoy Habit. I’ll be sharing more about the song over the next few weeks, but first, I’d love to hear what you take away from this song because it’d be next to nothing without your ears to hear it *hugs* Cassandra
