E206 A Conversation with Casandra Carson of Paralandra

>> KC: You're listening to The Itch. My name is KC.

>> Dan: My name is Dan.

>> Aaron: And I'm Aaron. And this week we are scratching the itch to hang out with one of our state mates. We have Casandra Carson of Paralandra from Springfield, Missouri on the show this week. And it's always fun when we can have somebody that's from roughly our area. Technically, there are other artists who are probably just as close geographically. But, you know, you're in Missouri with us. We like that a little bit more.

>> Dan: Hey, we're starting to get a little thumbprint in this area.

>> KC: Yeah, a little bit.

>> Dan: We've had, you know, some… Lydia's Castle has member from St. Louis. We've got Sam Bam from St. Louis and so, you know, just growing locally.

>> Aaron: And we might as well announce a podcast version of this now. We've already done on the socials. At some point in the near future, we'll be speaking with some very local guys from St. Louis in our March Bandness winners, Tree One Four.

>> Dan: Yes. Who I have to say, pulled off a pretty good April Fool's Joke today as they said that they were changing their name to Six Tree Six.

>> Aaron: They moved to St. Charles!

>> KC: Yeah.

>> Dan: Yes. For those that don't know, the, the 636 area code surrounds the 314 area code. The 314 is St. Louis and 636 is like the surrounding counties. 

>> Aaron: I laughed at that joke all the way from the tree one two, so it's good! Anyway, back to Casandra. So, Paralandra is a pretty dope band that has a pretty dope story. They've been around for a minute, but I think this album that's about to come out this Friday, if you're listening to this episode like right on release date, it's called The Body Electric and I think it's gonna definitely elevate them.

>> Dan: And this band is quite unique because they have a father/daughter combo that not many bands can say that they have.

>> KC: Right?

>> Dan: Normally daughters are embarrassed by their father so they wouldn't be in a band together. But this is not the situation. He's apparently a really awesome guitar player and she's stuck with him since she was like eleven or something in the band.

>> Aaron: These two LOVE being in a band together and I think that is the most wholesome thing ever.

>> Dan: It's awesome.

>> Aaron: Next time we have her on, I want him with her. Yeah, we've had whole bands. We've had solo acts. We've had married couples. I want the father/daughter on the show.

>> KC: Yes, I agree 100%. And, you know, one thing about Casandra is she's just a ball of energy, throughout this whole interview. And it's a lot of fun talking to a person that is like that.

>> Aaron: She's incredibly game both on the stage and on the microphone here with these interviews. To your point, she was ready to roll with anything that we threw at her. She's got stories. She's got charisma. She immediately comes off disarming and making jokes, like, within seconds of meeting her. And so, clearly someone who I think has the right kind of demeanor for success in this kind of industry.

>> Dan: It was fun getting to talk about their new upcoming album that is being released April 4. It's called The Body Electric, and it was just exciting to hear. You know, I always love hearing artists’ stories about how they came up with songs or how they ended up on the album. And I really loved hearing the story of how “Love of My Life” made it onto the album.

>> Aaron: That is one of three singles that have already been released. Again, if you're listening to this very quickly, if it's Friday, April 4, or afterwards, and you're listening to this, go check out the whole album. We endorse that entirely.

>> KC: Exactly.

>> Aaron: If not, you can listen to “Love of My Life.” You can listen to “Dirty Love.” There's a lot of love going on. And you can listen to “Look at Me Now,” their newest release.

>> KC: Yeah, you can check out the video to “Dirty Love.”

>> Aaron: The video to all of them. Go back and listen to watch the videos from their previous album. “Dirty Love” is a great video “For the Record” from their previous album, Street Magic, is also a great music video. They're a very visually entertaining band.

>> KC: They are. We haven't had a chance to check them out live yet. We hope to really soon, but definitely, if you're not aware of this band, you should check them out. So without any further ado, here's our conversation with Casandra Carson of Paralandra.

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>> Dan: Thank you very much for joining us. We are with Casandra of Paralandra. While you're not from our hometown of St. Louis, we are at least state mates, and I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but we're “MO bros,” as I like to refer to it.

>> Casandra Carson: I didn't realize we were MO bros! Oh my gosh!

>> Aaron: I didn't realize “MO bros” was a thing.

>> Casandra Carson: Me neither! I'm jumping on the train, though. I like it.

>> Dan: That's right.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah.

>> Dan: So Paralandra is from Springfield, Missouri. The Itch is actually based out of St. Louis, Missouri. And I know your band was most recently just literally in our backyard, Diamond Music Hall in St. Peter's, where we live. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go that night, but you guys are definitely on our “must see them” list. So sorry that we did miss that show. But how did it go?

>> Casandra Carson: Honestly, it was a great show, but I don't blame you guys for not coming out because the weather was TREACHEROUS.

>> KC: Oh, yeah.

>> Casandra Carson: One of the bands on the show didn't even make it because they were just stuck on the highway. One of the bands that did end up making it to show to the show, Troy, they were our direct support. they were stuck just five minutes away from the venue for, like, over an hour. Like, just trying to get to the place. Like, the roads were icy. I mean, so, yeah, there was a lot of people that were dealing with that, but the people that were able to make it out were ready to party, so, like, it was a wild night, even still.

>> Aaron: All right.

>> KC: I forgot that's the day it snowed.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was crazy. There were, like, semis off the highway.

>> KC: Yeah.

>> Casandra Carson: Like, it was. It was nuts. Multiple car pileups. We were stuck on the highway for a good hour and a half, just in the same spot. I actually peed on the highway out the van doors. Like, there's no way we're going to make it to a gas station in time. Yeah, but, it was a great show.

>> Aaron: What happens if somebody isn't able to make it to a show? Do you guys just extend your set to kind of compensate for that time, or…?

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah, that's exactly what we did. We had all the bands, like, the two openers were only scheduled to play, I think, like, 30 minutes and 45 minutes. So we just, like, went ahead and extended them an extra however much longer they could play, which I think was about 15 more. But. But, yeah, we made it work. It's not our first time, you know, running into schedule hiccups. So, you know, you just do what you got to do, make it work. And everybody had a great time, so that's all you can really ask for.

>> Dan: Yeah, I was definitely on our radar, but one of the reasons why we weren't there is because we were exhausted. The week before, we had just gotten back from Shiprocked, and I understand that you're actually quickly becoming a cruise festival veteran. You played the KISS cruise in the past, and most recently, you were on the Monsters of Rock cruise. So, are you a fan of festivals over the water?

>> Casandra Carson: I love them, actually. Which is crazy because I am terrified of the ocean with everything in my being, and, like, I can't stand the thought of, like, whales, sharks being next to me. It's hard for me to even swim in a pool because my imagination is just so wild. You know, you, like, see a shadow in the deep end, and that's definitely a great white. At least that's what my brain tells me. So, anyways, so it's a little bit weird, but I've been on four cruises now, and I absolutely love it. Like, it's so much fun. And the cruisers themselves are kind of like this really big family, that, you know, you get to see every year. And then, of course, you know, being on tour, you get to see them kind of scattered around the states at different times. So, it's just as much I feel, like, about the relationships and about just, like, the people as well as it is about the bands. And I love all of it. It's great.

>> Dan: Were all four of those concert cruises, or was, like, just one a normal cruise?

>> Casandra Carson: I've actually never been on a normal cruise.

>> Dan: Okay. That's why I was wondering.

>> Casandra Carson: I feel like I would be bored to death.

>> Aaron: That that was a conversation that we had! We were like, “What do people do on cruises when there's not rock bands playing all day long?”

>> Casandra Carson: Exactly. Literally what do we do? My anxiety would just take over. I don't know if I'd be able to handle it. There's enough stimuli on a music cruise where I'm very distracted from my fears.

>> KC: Yeah, well, speaking of fears, was it smooth sailing on your cruise?

>> Casandra Carson: It was, yeah.

>> KC: Not so much on ours.

>> Casandra Carson: Oh, man! Oh, I heard about that. Yeah, you guys were in Jamaica, and one of my friends was on that cruise, and he was sending me Snapchats from, like, just the wreckage and everything. Everything was flooded. Looked crazy.

>> KC: Yeah, we survived.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah, we survived. We made it back.

>> Dan: On this most recent cruise you were on, who was your favorite artist or set?

>> Casandra Carson: Glenn Hughes hands down. He literally… I caught the entirety of both of his performances, and it was soul shaking. Like, inspiring on another level. That guy is such a class act musician and human being, and it was literally like going to church. It was like a spiritual experience, being in the crowd for that show, you could just feel the music vibrating through every inch of your body, and not in a loud way, but in just, like, I don't know, something about, you know, I think we all experience it. Music can do something to you internally. Like, to your soul. And it was the whole show for me, like, front to end, just magnificent. So major props to Glenn Hughes. I could only hope to be whaling like that when I'm his age.

>> KC: Did you happen to run into Sam Bam Koltun? He was on Shiprocked as well.

>> Casandra Carson: I don't think so.

>> KC: Okay.

>> Casandra Carson: Is he a regular cruiser?

>> KC: Well, he was the guitarist for Pastor Pussycat.

>> Casandra Carson: Oh, okay. Yeah, he must have been on there then. I just didn't realize.

>> KC: Yeah, yeah. I was just curious.

>> Dan: He's also a local musician that tours with other bands and stuff, so we've quickly become friends with him.

>> Casandra Carson: Oh, so he's from St. Louis?

>> KC: Yes, yes.

>> Casandra Carson: Oh, cool.

>> Aaron: Yeah, he had a big homecoming show at the Diamond Music Hall not too long before you guys were there. Anytime he comes back to town, it's like a big old celebration in the area, so it's kind of fun.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah, that's great.

>> KC: He plays guitar in, like, four bands also for Dorothy and Budderside.

>> Casandra Carson: Oh, cool. Okay, sweet. Well, I know the Budderside guys, so that's awesome.

>> KC: Yeah. One thing that I wanted to point out is you've been on our radar for quite a while. For about a year now, because you liked one of our posts for our New Rock Roundup playlist for another band that you were shouting out and supporting. So I just wanted to throw that out there. You've been on a radar for quite a while.

>> Casandra Carson: Who was the band?

>> KC: I don't remember. For the life of me, I tried to. I tried to figure that out, but it was a while ago.

>> Casandra Carson: So I wonder, was it, The Many Colored Death, by chance?

>> KC: I think it might have been, actually.

>> Casandra Carson: Okay.

>> Aaron: Yeah, I'm sure they've been on that playlist.

>> Casandra Carson: I hype them up everywhere I go. They are amazing. And they're also our… What did we call it? Our MO bros!

>> KC: Yeah.

>> Casandra Carson: Yes. Yes.

>> KC: Yeah. I think that's exactly who it was. Now that you say that, yes.

>> Casandra Carson: Okay, good, good. They deserve it.

>> Aaron: She’s satisfied to know that her work was not in vain.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah!

>> KC: All right, so let's get into discussing, your new album that you have coming out here in the near future. The Body Electric, coming out on April 4.

>> Casandra Carson: Yes! I'm so excited. Like, this album is really cool because it's kind of a collection of songs over the entirety of Paralandra’s lifespan. So there's, like, songs from 2013, when we literally just first started. There's songs that span all the way from between then and 2023, literally months before we went into the studio. And, you know, The Body Electric, we titled it that because I was inspired by the Walt Whitman poem, which is just about how humans are so miraculous in themselves. The fact that we exist, that we're conscious beings, is amazing and talks about how we're made of electricity, and we are literally physically connected to people. And, you know, you kind of get, like, science-y and a little weird when you kind of dive into that stuff. But underneath the skin, we are all the exact same. And that's really the resounding message that Paralandra is always trying to send out there, is that you are loved, you are accepted. And we really like to create an all-inclusive environment for all kinds of music listeners. So when I was reading this poem, I was like, “Oh, my gosh. This resonates with everything Paralandra related.” And, as I was saying, the songs, it's like a collection of our entire lives in this band. So I couldn't think of a more perfect way to tie it all together than to call it The Body Electric. So, yeah, I'm stoked for people to hear it.

>> Aaron: I love that. That's actually, a question or a topic I was about to get into because I'd heard in a previous conversation you had, you told a story about how, for your previous album, Street Magic, the songs you took to the producer and the songs ended up on the album were very different. And so that had me wondering, like, that, did some of those make the cut and/or kind of morph maybe into part of this album? But you kind of answered that question. You got a decade's worth of stuff to pull from there.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah. Yes. We absolutely put songs on this record that unfortunately didn't make it onto Street Magic. For example, “Love of My Life,” the second single that we released off of this record, we were talking about putting it on Street Magic, but we already had “Weightless.” And since it was only eight songs. We were kind of like, “How many ballads are we going to put on this thing?” And that doesn't really represent, like, who we are as a band. Cause you come to a show and it's high energy rock in your face, pretty much start to finish. So, I mean, whereas we like to be, you know, dynamic and versatile, we just wanted to be smart about the collection of songs we were putting on both. And having Elvis's opinion was great because, like I was saying before, his opinion was completely opposite of what we thought it was going to be. And so, you know, he picked songs that we still loved, but they weren't necessarily songs that we thought were, like, the hits or whatever or, like “Despicable.” Like, that song is pretty true to the way that we wrote it initially. But Elvis really helped us refine that song and turn it into what it is today. Like, we had all the hooks. They were just kind of all in the wrong spots, you know? So he was very, very instrumental, no pun intended, in shaping both of those albums. I feel like they're both a great collection for themselves, you know?

>> KC: Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely.

>> Dan: You had mentioned “Love of My Life,” which is the first single off this, and we kind of wanted to touch base on this just briefly, because, for one, your boyfriend should feel pretty special. I don't think that there's many dudes on the receiving end of love ballads, especially rock love ballads.

>> Casandra Carson: Right? I never thought about that, but you're probably right.

>> Aaron: It's got to be a very unique feeling. Yeah.

>> Dan: So it pretty much means he needs to put a ring on it, right?

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah, exactly.

>> Aaron: She's like, “I wrote you this song and put it on my album.”

>> Casandra Carson: Oh, my gosh.

>> Aaron: The signals have been sent, brother.

>> Casandra Carson: I don't know how to be more. But, yeah, it's pretty cool. I just wrote it for him for our anniversary, like, back in 2020. One of my friends that I actually went to high school with, he's also a songwriter, so we were just hanging out, and I was like, “Well, check out this little ditty that I've got.” And he does a lot of, like, piano ballad type music. Like, worked for Broadway for a while. Very much, like, theatrical type songwriter. And so he helped me really create the bare bones of the song. Again, it was one of those things where I had all these little nuggets of ideas, but not really put together into one consistent idea. So we did that, and then I recorded a little demo version of it and gave it to Jaron for our anniversary. And I don't know, that's where I thought it was gonna end. But then I showed it to my family, and everybody was like, “You have to release this!” Like, freaking out. So all these years later, now it's finally in the public.

>> Aaron: There it is.

>> KC: There you go.

>> Dan: Yeah, you know, that's a good introduction to the rest of the band. For those that might not be aware, the lead guitarist of Paralandra is your father, Paul. And as a parent, I want to commend your dad because he's the type of parent that I strive to be. I let my children bang on the drums in the house. They scream and sing loudly in hopes of letting their artistic capabilities flourish. So what are some of the ways that your parents supported you?

>> Casandra Carson: They were always very, like, hands on. Whatever I was interested in, they would try to nurture that. And so, for a while, it was sports for the majority of my upbringing. Gymnastics, volleyball, track. Took all of those things into college. Well, except for gymnastics. I quit that when I was in 7th grade. But still, you know, just like, athletics were a huge part of my life. But also when I was, like, ten years old, I started really gaining an interest in guitar. And so when I was eleven, I got my first guitar for my birthday. And, like, it was just, I mean, straight on till morning, I guess, from that moment. Because as soon as I picked up the guitar, I just did not put it down. And watching my dad for, you know, my whole life, being such an incredible player and performer, and he played for so many different bands, including, like, just church bands. But no matter where he was placed and what kind of music he was playing, it was just amazing. I loved the sounds he was creating, and so I was like, “Man, I just really want to be able to do that. I want to play a guitar solo. I want to play the ‘Trilogy Suite.’” My dad's like, “Yeah, you could play that, no problem.” Like, who says that to a 13-year-old? But I did it anyways. And the first thing I wanted to learn was “Eruption.” And he said, “Okay, here's how you play it.” You know, there was no hesitation. And whereas nowadays, or maybe not even nowadays, but, like, you would just think common sense, you're like, “Okay, why don't we learn a scale first? Like, any scale, let's just figure out a chord.” But, no, he was like, “Well, whatever you want to learn, I'll teach you how to play it.” And that's how it went.

>> Aaron: Fantastic.

>> Casandra Carson: I feel like a great way to keep kids interested in what they want to do is to allow them to do what they're interested in. Like, the kind of Montessori school type learning where the kid leads it, and you just kind of embellish on whatever they're interested in.

>> KC: Yeah, yeah. Well, “The Body Electric” is a fantastic album from top to bottom. But we also wanted to quickly kind of discuss some of your music videos. You guys make a lot of music videos for your songs, which is fantastic. But “Dirty Love” is particularly hilarious in many ways.

>> Casandra Carson: Thank you. Thank you.

>> KC: I wanted to call attention to two specific things. The businessmen team, where you pull the clock out to show that it's 5:00 and they can't clock out. That was a quality touch.

>> Casandra Carson: I don't know if it's going to go by too quick, but, yeah, that was one of my ideas!

>> KC: Loved it. It's hilarious. And then at the end of the video, your dad palms the front of your head and then pulls it back for leverage.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah. Our video team, Acceleration Media, like Jake Jones and Adrian Bianco. They are incredible human beings, just awesome people. But they totally get our vision, and that's the greatest thing. And obviously, they turn it into this high-quality product, but we have, like, such ridiculous ideas, and it's like, “Well, who's gonna believe in this?” Like, it's a mud pit tug of war where we're battling against ourselves in fry cook costumes. Like, “What?” Right? “What is that?” But they're totally on board. They're like, “Oh, this is hilarious. This is great. Yeah, yeah, let's do it!” And so that's why we have so many entertaining music videos, because we keep being told, “Yes.”

>> Dan: So I have a question. Do you guys use the music videos to tell, like, a different story or to further tell the story of that song?

>> Casandra Carson: It depends, but I guess mostly it would be to tell a different story or a different take on, like, a lyric within the song. I guess, for example, “Dirty Love,” we took it in a lot more literal of a point of view. We went with that actual dirt. And, like, “For the Record,” I mean, that one was a lot more based on reality. You know, like, people judging you and, you know, never being enough, and they try and change you and try and make you something you're not. But at the end of the day, you're like, “My success comes from me being who I am, and I don't care what you think.” So that one was very much in line with what the song was about. So, I don't know. It depends, I guess. Depends on what? I don't know. Just whatever our ideas are for that particular song.

>> Aaron: That's something I wanted to note is on “For the Record,” something that I appreciated about the way you guys go about things is you're approaching something that is really like… it's legitimate. It's an important point. It's this idea of how the music industry, or just people in general, try to turn you into something that they want you to be in order to find success or whatever, and the difficulty of staying true to who you actually are. But you're doing it in such a whimsical way and in proving and making that point and kind of addressing the issue, like… it's a serious point made in a sort of comedic fashion. And I really appreciated that.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah. Yes, we, we definitely value comedy in this band. If you haven't noticed.

>> Aaron: Yeah, yeah. Have a good time. It's what the rock show’s for, right?

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah, exactly. It's all fun and games and entertainment and we're just having a blast. That's what it's all about.

>> Dan: And the last thing we kind of want to touch base on with the new album is that we felt that there's kind of this difference building in rock music where, you know, you have a lot of, I wouldn't say overly produced stuff, but, like, stuff that's going to have a lot of electronics or a lot of backing noises. And then you have stuff that's just raw. You know, guitar, bass, drums, singer, that's it. And the raw stuff that's… those are the bands that are still out there. They're still doing the breakdowns, they're still doing the solos. And Paralandra is definitely what I consider like a raw band that is out there still doing those solos. And so we wanted to say, for one, that we appreciate that. And well, thank you.

>> Casandra Carson: Thanks for appreciating.

>> Dan: And then I just want to kind of get your take on that. Do you think that there are differences in bands and, just… how that's perceived, I guess, amongst other bands?

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah. I mean, for me, like in Paralandra, we don't use any backing tracks, or anything like that. We just are playing our instruments and, you know, our CD is absolutely. We've got special effects. We had Elvis, you know, have fun with it and really make the songs as cool as they could be. You know, orchestration and all. But when we're playing live shows, you know, it's different than the CD. You're seeing four people that are playing these songs the way that they wrote them, which is four people together in a room and, you know, jamming. And I feel like that's really where the magic happens. And just, seeing, like, when you realize a band is not playing with tracks, it just makes you respect them so much more because you're like, “Wow. You are actually creating this. You are actually putting in the work. You're practicing. You're nailing these parts, and it sounds awesome.” Glenn Hughes, huge proponent of that. Man, that guy was just destroying everybody's lives up there. Like, it was awesome. But we play with so many bands that use backing tracks, and I get why they do it because they want to sound perfect, but that's not what we want as listeners. At least for me, when I'm going to a concert, I don't want to hear the CD. I want to hear the band. So, if you suck, then you better own it. You better go up there and you suck. And, like, I don't know, don't pretend behind a wall of fake guitars that were prerecorded by your producer to pretend and karaoke your way into being a successful band. Like, I'm not into that fake fare, but, I mean, I get why they do it. They're trying to provide a perfect show. They want it to be ten out of ten, top notch. I get it. I totally do. But there's an ounce of respect to be had for people that are doing it for real and are actually professionals at their craft with just playing their instruments.

>> Dan: Yeah. Actually, it's very reminiscent of an act we just saw that came through town recently, which was Nita Strauss and Mammoth WVH. And I can definitely tell you have some Van Halen influence because your riffs and Mammoth’s riffs are very, similar, especially on the new album. 

>> Aaron: There you go! Very nice.

>> Casandra Carson: Nice.

>> Aaron: For those who can't see, she's rocking a Van Halen shirt as we speak.

>> KC: Wearing a Van Halen shirt. Yeah.

>> Casandra Carson: Yep. Continue.

>> KC: Perfect.

>> Dan: Awesome.

>> Casandra Carson: I guess that answered the question. Yeah.

>> KC: Yeah, you nailed it.

>> Casandra Carson: Oh, man. Yeah.

>> Aaron: We're going to move on to our final section here in just a second, but I want to slide in a completely unrelated question that you don't have to really expand on. But just out of sheer curiosity, you talked about being inspired by Walt Whitman poems and the like. Is the band's name a play on the CS Lewis book?

>> Casandra Carson: Yes! Oh, my gosh. You're like, one of less than ten people who have ever got that. So, yeah, yeah.

>> Aaron: It's a slightly different spelling, but if you search for it with an “e,” you get the book, and if you search the word with an “a,” you get your band. So, fun Google search results information right there.

>> Casandra Carson: Exactly. Yes. Yeah. My dad was reading the book Perelandra around the time we started the band, and I thought it was the coolest name ever. I actually wanted to name one of my cover bands Paralandra, before Paralandra started, and everybody thought it was a stupid name. So, like, “Fine,” and ended up starting this band. And I'm like, “Let's do Paralandra.” And we stuck with it.

>> Aaron: And that's why you learned to go with what you think instead of listening. You made the right call this time. So, alright. Our last section, we call it “Burning Questions.” It's a series that we pick from for each person that we speak with. One we always start with is a song or an album that changed your life.

>> Casandra Carson: Blackbird. Alter Bridge.

>> KC: There you go.

>> Aaron: You're not the first person that said that specific thing. That's great.

>> Casandra Carson: Oh, I'm not surprised. It is an epic album. It was life changing. Easy. Next.

>> KC: What's a song that you're especially proud to have written?

>> Casandra Carson: Ooh… “Despicable,” I think.

>> KC: Okay.

>> Casandra Carson: Yeah. That or “For the Record.” Both of them I'm very proud of.

>> KC: Awesome.

>> Dan: What about a Body Electric song that you're excited to play live?

>> Casandra Carson: Ooh, “Look at Me Now,” which just came out. And there's another one called “Give Me a Reason” that you guys haven't heard yet. Well, maybe you have.

>> KC: We have.

>> Casandra Carson: You probably have.

>> Aaron: We have. Others might not have.

>> Casandra Carson: Not yet.

>> KC: The public has not heard yet.

>> Casandra Carson: And, yeah, I'm stoked to play that one live. It's got that sick triple solo section in the middle, and it's crowd participation at the beginning, getting the song started. And “Give Me a Reason” is one of those songs that, like, that was one of the first songs ever that I wrote for this band. So that's taking it back to 2013, 2014, songwriting. So, you know, it's cool that it survived after all of these years. And so we have, like, a lot of local fans that know it already because they've heard it so many times over the years because we like to test out our new songs live. But anyways, yeah, it's cool that it's finally recorded. We finally have this larger-than-life version of the song that a lot of our hometown fans have known for a decade at this point.

>> KC: Awesome.

>> Casandra Carson: And it's new for other people, too.

>> KC: That's right. What's a dream tour for you?

>> Casandra Carson: Well, I'll take it back to Alter Bridge. I would love to tour with them. Jelusick. That would be sick. So, like, Paralandra, Alter Bridge. Jelusick.

>> KC: Hey. All right. One that we personally would love to see is, you with Mammoth WVH and Alter Bridge.

>> Casandra Carson: Yes. I would love more than anything, to play with Mammoth, Wolfie. VH. Like, that would be insane. Ah. It's almost like an untouched thing, you know? Like, his dad is a god. Yes.

>> KC: Yeah.

>> Casandra Carson: And obviously, I love all of Wolfe's music. Both albums are just killer front to back. I mean, that has a lot to do with Elvis, too, but, man. Yeah, that's some good music.

>> KC: Yeah.

>> Casandra Carson: And he's an incredible vocalist. Like, I got to see them live. I think it was two years ago when he was just promoting his first album, and, like, he was just wailing. Like, that guy is a great vocalist, great guitar player, and, you obviously, we all know he plays all the instruments on the album. Like, yeah, just amazing.

>> KC: We agree. We agree.

>> Aaron: Casandra, thank you very much for your time. We're thrilled to have you. We're really excited about this album coming out, and always excited to speak to fellow Missourians, particularly.

>> Casandra Carson: Yes! Thank you so much for the support, really. Thank you, guys. And hopefully we'll see you again soon. We'll be up in your area.

>> KC: Alright, sure. Looking forward to it.

>> Dan: Thank you very much.

>> Casandra Carson: Alright, see ya!

>> Dan: Well, thank you very much for listening to The Itch Podcast. My name is Dan.

>> KC: I'm KC.

>> Aaron: And I'm Aaron.

>> Dan: Until next time, I'll never change for you. I'm just letting you know, for the record.

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>> Aaron: If you enjoyed what you heard in this episode, please subscribe and tell a friend about The Itch.

>> KC: Check out the show notes for links about the episode, as well as our new music playlist and where you can hear us every Sunday night.

>> Dan: And you can interact with us at itchrocks.com. Or on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Gmail, all at i-t-c-h-r-o-c-k-s.