Meet Cara Paige | Singer/Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cara Paige and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cara, what’s your definition for success?
I think I want to start this out not with how I would define success, but that success can be ongoing and take a while. If you never give up, then you can’t ever fail. If you never fail, then you are destined to succeed. As long as you are continuing to work hard and not give up, then in my eyes you are succeeding. If you give up, then you have automatically failed. Failure comes much faster and easier than success. But again, success is ongoing and as long as you are working towards your goals, then you are on your way to succeeding.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have always been a lover of creativity. Whether that was drawing, sculpting, singing, dancing, or writing, creativity has been a constant in my life since I was young. I started writing parodies when I was in middle school. As I kept doing this, I had people telling me I should just write my own songs. At the time, I didn’t play any instruments so I had no idea how I would be able to write without knowing any chords. It wasn’t until high school when I started self teaching myself guitar which ultimately led me to start writing. I remember I was 14 years old and I was at Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour. I was in complete awe of her and that’s when I realized that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a singer/songwriter. I came home and the next day I wrote my first song, ‘Red Flags’. I fell in love with songwriting and from there I started trying to produce my songs in my room using GarageBand and my guitar. I produced an entire album but never released it. My parents finally agreed to work with a producer and let me professionally record my first single, ‘Red Flags’. I released that song in 2017 and continued writing. I had put out a few songs in between then and now, but after I graduated college I finally decided I wanted to make an album. I was fortunate enough to work with an extremely talented and passionate producer, mix, and master engineer, Justine Blazer, who believed in me and my music. She made my debut album, ’23’, everything I wanted and more. It was a long process and I’m so glad it’s out for the world to hear.

I’m excited to keep writing and move further on my path as a singer/songwriter. I’ve gotten a lot of new and cool experiences from my album release. I just attended the 10th annual Josie Music Awards where my holiday song, ‘Joy In The Season’, was nominated for the songwriter achievement award. I co-wrote this song with Corey Lee Barker and Justine Blazer, and it was my first time doing a co-write which was a super exciting experience for me.

Nothing in life is easy. Everything takes hard work and dedication and most of the time you have to fail and try again before succeeding. I’ve been releasing music for 7 years now and I find that as I keep going, I improve. There are things I know could have been done so much better for a lot of the earlier songs I released, and I could delete these songs from streaming platforms if I wanted to, but I choose to keep them because I love seeing my growth. It’s a reminder to myself that there is always room to grow and improve and that hard work and practice really does make a difference.

I have dealt with a lot of hate on social media and that has made me want to succeed even more. So many people have told me I can’t sing and that my voice sucks and again that only makes me want to get better at singing. I started taking voice lessons and the improvement is crazy and again just proves that working hard can take you anywhere in life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have always been more of a homebody and have preferred being in one’s company more than where we go. Some fun places that I would want to show them though would definitely be PuttShack and the Beltline. I also love hanging out at PBR at The Battery. I would want to take them to my favorite restaurant, Novo Cucina. Italian food is my favorite and their pasta is literally incredible! Another cool spot is The Yard. They make these really cool milkshakes that you can customize with all your favorite toppings and they put them in these cool mason jars. I have such a big sweet tooth so I’m always in the mood for anything sweet. These places are all cool and fun, but like I said, sometimes it’s nice to just chill at home with my friends and have a good night in.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to start out by thanking my family and friends. Even though they don’t always understand why I am on this path, their support means so much to me and I seriously wouldn’t be able to continue on this journey without them. Whether they’re listening to a new song I wrote, or helping me promote myself, the endless support is something I need to keep me going. I also want to thank my amazing producer, mixing, and mastering engineer, Justine Blazer. She made my dreams of my debut album become a reality and her support has meant so much to me along the way. She believes in me and I wouldn’t have been able to release this album without her.

Website: https://www.carapaigemusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carapaigemusic

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cara-paige-miller-3614b51a3/

Twitter: https://x.com/carapaigemusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Cara-Paige-Music-100042383868060/

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@carapaigemusic

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3WcenupfmhAW5Zy2wm1HI2?si=-csDky0JQcCbU_TdpPcgyQ

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cara-paige/1231699881

Image Credits
Meagan Harper – Photographer
Drew Lotter – Graphic Designer