Reaching for her star

 

By PJ Martin

Editor

The Herald-News

 

If you are not familiar with her name yet, you will be. Cara Bishop is a junior at Metcalfe County High School following her dream of being a singer/songwriter. And she’s getting noticed!

On October 22, Cara became the 2023 winner of the Artist of the Year (under 18) at the 9^th Annual Josie Music Awards (JMAs) and accepted the award on the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville.

She had a total of six nominations for 2023: Artist of the Year (Under 18), Young Adult Female Vocalist of the Year, Modern Country Song of the Year (Mine for Now), Fan’s Choice (Under 18), and Female EP of the Year.

The JMAs are the largest independent music award (134 awards) and they are privately owned by mother and daughter duo Josie Passantino-Boone and Tinamarie Passantino. It was created back in 2015 to celebrate the work of independent music artists, songwriters, and business professionals of all genres of music.

A few of the venues that Cara has performed at locally are the Sulphur Well Homecoming, Dennison’s Roadside Market, 5BrokeGirls Restaurant in Horse Cave, 106 WYKY FM in Somerset, and many others statewide.

In August of 2021, Cara signed a record deal with MC1 Nashville and early in 2022, she released her debut single Mine For Now to radio and streaming platforms. She also released the music video to YouTube which was then featured on CMT. What’s even more amazing is that she wrote the song Mine For Now when she was only 14 years old.

The Edmonton Herald-News asked Cara when she first became interested in writing and singing and at what age she wrote her first song.

“I first became interested in songwriting after I taught myself to play the guitar. As soon as I learned to play, I started writing,” answered Cara who went on to say, “I wrote my first full, complete song at 14. The songs on my debut EP were all written by me when I was 14!”

Since then, she has released three more songs to streaming platforms. All of which she has written, I Hope You Know That, Breaking News, and Wine on White.

When asked what inspires her to write a song she responded, “Truthfully, everything inspires me. Sometimes it’s other people or specific events. Sometimes it’s a sign I see while driving down the road or just a random thought that pops in my head in the middle of the night. It is pretty much anything and everything. I keep notes of all my ideas on my phone.”

Lastly, we asked her what one thing has to happen to make her feel like she has made it as a singer and songwriter.

“I feel like the customary answer to that for any country artist is you know you’ve ‘made it’ when you’ve played at the Grand Ole Opry. And I really hope I get the opportunity to do that soon! From a songwriter’s perspective, I hope one day I can be on stage singing songs I wrote and look out and see the audience singing along with me. I feel like that will be the ‘I’ve made it’ moment as a songwriter – when people know the lyrics and are invested enough in my songs to be able to sing them with me.”

We at the Edmonton Herald-News and Jobe Publishing wish the best and brightest future for Cara. You can find her music online at the following sites. Help her out – Like, follow, stream, download, and/or share her music.

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/carabishopmusic

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/38BWoDqCF3SWfP7LwBOdq4…

Amazon Music:

https://music.amazon.com/artists/B0714KY4C8…

Apple Music:

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cara-bishop/1240207043

YouTube Account (for song releases):

https://youtube.com/channel/UCb-eTqyjgtk-UVKoXQUjnpA…

Personal YouTube account:

https://youtube.com/@carabishopmusic6173?si=geWVGHGA-KnQkkyB