Photo: Tyler Lord
Caroline Jones opened up to tell the “most raw,” and most “honest” story that she’s ever put to words. The genre-blending singer-songwriter reflected on the lyrics she wrote to share the waves of victory and disappointment she goes through as she pursues her passion.
Jones debuted “Superpower,” the title track to her upcoming EP, on Friday (May 5). Though “everyone can relate because everyone's chasing different dreams and navigating different challenges in their lives,” the ballad is an autobiographical story of Jones’ career as a musician. She hopes that it can send the message to listeners that “just because your plans don't go exactly the way that you hoped or thought they would, doesn't equate with failure, and that actually real integrity and real courage is being able to pick yourself up when things don't go the way you planned and recommit yourself to your dream, and recommit yourself to emotional courage.”
“But there’s no last hope / No quittin’ time/ I’m doomed to dream / And compelled to try. I know I’m crazy/ And difficult at times/ But not giving up is / My superpower and my kryptonite”
Superpower will also include a mix of previously-released and never-before-heard tracks, including “Lawless” and “Keep It Safe” featuring Alyssa Bonagura. The EP will introduce “Normal Person” — “a very fun, funny, tongue-in-cheek, sassy lyric” — and “By Way of Sorrow,” a cover of Cry Cry Cry’s late 90s song, featuring one of Jones’ musical heroes, Vince Gill. The 5-track collection spans a range of musical influences (from country, to pop, to bluegrass), and offers a preview of Jones’ forthcoming third studio album that’s set to release later this year.
“I would say it's a pretty accurate snapshot of the record in terms of the sonic diversity,” Jones said of the EP when she recently spoke with iHeartCountry. She added later that working on the project with new collaborators offered a change for her to be “pushed as a musician,” and ignited a sense of pride in what Jones said is “my best work ever.”
Jones’ 5-track EP is set to release on Friday, May 19, one day after the country-pop artist and multi-instrumentalist performs her first-ever headlining show in Nashville, Tennessee. Jones will perform at the city’s iconic EXIT/IN, promising some “very special surprise guests” to mark the occasion. It’s one of her many upcoming performance dates, both as a solo artist and as a member of award-winning country group, Zac Brown Band.
Listen to “Superpower” here, and read Jones’ latest Q&A with iHeartCountry below.
Editor’s note: Q&A has been edited for length or clarity.
iHeartCountry: We’re so close to getting to hear your new EP, titled after the song you just released. Can you tell me the story behind “Superpower,” the song?
Caroline Jones: Absolutely. ‘Superpower’ is one of the most raw and kind of honest lyrics and self-reflective lyrics I've ever written. It's about the triumphs and heartbreaks of chasing this particular dream. Everyone can relate because everyone's chasing different dreams and navigating different challenges in their lives. But as an artist, you're constantly self-assessing and self-reflecting, just by the nature of your creativity and putting yourself out there. And as your career progresses, you're forced — whether you're super successful or things don't go as you planned — to reassess constantly because you gotta stay creative, and you gotta stay authentic, and you gotta keep your integrity. And I've seen that with the biggest superstars that I've gotten to work with from Zac (Brown) to Jimmy (Buffett), to Kenny (Chesney), how to reinvent yourself.
‘Superpower’ is really about maturing and growing up, and realizing that some plans that you had didn't go the way that you thought (they would), and really taking that heartbreak at on the chin and ...allowing yourself to assess it. And then asking yourself, ‘is this dream still worth it to me?’ And, ‘is this risk still worth it to me?’ And, ‘am I willing to put all of myself on the line for this dream and for my music?’ And the answer, for me, is always ‘yes.’ But you do have those moments of self-doubt and feeling like a failure, and it's just part of being human and it's especially part of this industry. …I was talking to a friend who's an artist and I remember saying, you know, ‘I'd rather struggle in music my whole life than do anything else.’ And that's really like the mission statement of ‘Superpower,’ is, ‘if it's who you are, it's just who you are.’ And you have to be grateful to have a career in music. And I certainly am.
iHC: What do you hope that listeners will be able to get out of it?
CJ: That's a great question. I think succinctly put, that just because your plans don't go exactly the way that you hoped or thought they would, doesn't equate with failure, and that actually real integrity and real courage is being able to pick yourself up when things don't go the way you planned and recommit yourself to your dream, and recommit yourself to emotional courage.
iHR: There are five tracks on your EP, and they all come together so well, but also have their own sound. How do all these tracks work so well together while also standing out on their own?
CJ: I've always been very honest and unapologetic about the fact that I have a lot of different influences and stylistic music loves, and all my albums have reflected that. Kind of a mix of country and pop, and some rock and folk, and even something a little more Nora Jones-y like ‘Superpower,’ which is a little bit of a departure. I just love that stuff. It feeds my soul, creatively. And honestly, we've been working on this record since December. We're pretty much done, but the EP is really just like the first five songs that I had finished, because my goal at this point in my career is just to put out as much music as possible. I've always wanted to do that, but now the music market is really allowing for that kind of constant feeding of content to fans, and I love that.
You see people like Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan just putting out tons of music and with no filter, and I love that. So, I wanna put out as much music as possible. And I wanna put it out in digestible chunks for people because I think…it's exciting to be able to put out a song at a time because you really get to give that song a moment or those few songs a moment. …I would say it's a pretty accurate snapshot of the record in terms of the sonic diversity. But also, I like to think there's a real through-line to all my music, just because I write 99% of it. I mean, on this EP there's a cover called ‘By Way of Sorrow.’ But, you know, I co-produce it, I write it and I play instruments on it. So, I like to think there's a stylistic through-line and a sound. I think that this EP has kind of the best both worlds there.
iHR: We, of course, talked a few months back about your duet that you had with Alyssa [Bonagura]. Now we see that you have a collaboration coming up with Vince Gill, who you listed when you were talking about some of your biggest musical heroes. How did this happen that you got to have a song with him?
CJ: First of all, great memory. Yes, I did. He's one of my all-time heroes musically, and even personally of how to navigate this industry. He and Mac McAnally are the two most — the ratio of talent to humility is so, so ideal. So, actually, Brandon Hood, my co-producer who I've been working with on this next record, he knows Vince. He's an amazing guitar player and producer and musician. He's known Vince through Paul Franklin, I think, and I obviously know Vince a little bit because I opened some shows for him in 2018 or 19. It all blurs together before the pandemic.
But, you know, it's the kind of thing where, unless you're really close to someone that you're opening for, you kind of are like, ‘do they know who I am? I'm not sure!’ …He was always nothing but really nice to me. But I was just so honored and so excited and giddy like a kid when I found out that he was gonna sing on ‘By Way of Sorrow.’ …Vince Gill, he's an incredible artist, producer (and) musician, but he's some harmonies on so many country records….Vince's harmonies on ‘Let Me Let Go’ by Faith Hill is one of my favorite harmony parts ever.
…I’m just so honored, and it's such a beautiful song. I can't believe I hadn't heard it before. It's by this band called Cry Cry Cry. It's written by Julie Miller, and actually Alyssa showed it to me. I'd never heard it before …That song touches me so deeply because it's such a powerful song about really the generations that came us and how much harder their lives were than ours is today, and how we stand on their shoulders. That's what I think about when I sing the song. So, it's very powerful to have a hero like Vince on it who paved the way in this industry for artists like myself. I'm just so honored to have him on it. I can't believe it.
iHR: Can you walk me through the track list and the stories and the inspirations behind these songs (on the EP) that we're getting to hear very soon?
CJ: ‘Lawless’ came out in March. I'm super proud of that song. I just love the production. I wrote that with Brandon Ratcliffe and Pete Good. It's just a ‘U2 meets Keith Urban’ moment for me. I feel like that kind of production is something I'm really trying to lean into creatively. Whatever direction that is sonically, I really wanna experiment more with that. And the poetry of the lyric, it's a very poetic, kind of esoteric lyric that I love.
‘Normal Person’ is just very quintessential, like ‘Caroline Jones sass.’ I mean, my first single ever was called ‘Tough Guys,’ and had that spirit. On Antipodes that had ‘Come In (But Don't Make Yourself Comfortable),’ and ‘Don't Talk To Me Like I'm Tiffany,’ which were both those kind of like bluesy, sassy, swampy songs. And I just feel like it's not a Caroline Jones project without at least one or two of those songs.
‘Superpower,’ I kind of already spoke about. ‘By Way of Sorrow’ I already spoke about, but I'll just say it's the only cover on the EP, and it's just a song that I wanted to sing. I couldn't wait to sing and play it. It was just so moving to me. It's the kind of song that is the reason that I fell in love with Nashville and country music when I was 17. I can't sing it without crying. And to have Vince Gill on it, I really can't sing it without crying!
‘Keep It Safe’ is my duet with Alyssa, and that was the first song that came out this year. That's very like, 90s, breezy... SHeDAISY, Faith Hill, Martina McBride vibes. That's also a sound that I love and really love to explore in songwriting and definitely having that live, those kind of songs is great.
iHR: And as far as things that are coming up next for you, do you feel like this EP really ‘sets the stage,’ so to speak, for the album that we're gonna get to hear from you later this year?
CJ: …Absolutely in terms of, like I said, the kind of balance between the sonic diversity and then that through-line of my style and my songwriting and playing and production, it absolutely sets the stage. I'm really excited for the rest of the album as well. I mean, obviously I think this is my best album ever. Everyone always says that, but why would you make an album if you're like, ‘eh, well the last one was better!’ So, it's my best work ever. I've loved working with Brandon Hood. He's a new collaborator, production-wise, on this record. And I really wanted to bring in some fresh blood because I wanted to be nervous in the studio again, and I wanted to be pushed as a musician.
He's an incredible guitar player, multi-instrumentalist and has taught me a lot. That's a tip that Zac Brown gave me is he said, you know, I always try to work with different producers each album and steal all their tricks and find out, you know, their process. And, I think that's really wise because everyone has so much to teach. And as an artist who's interested in production, that's also something that producers find really refreshing and exciting, to be able to collaborate with an artist in that deep way. So, it's been wonderful working with Brandon, and then Rick, as always.
iHR: Is there anything else that we haven't talked about yet that you want to add?
CJ: …The EXIT/IN show in Nashville on May 18, the night before my EP comes out, just because that's my first headline show in Nashville, if you can believe it. I've never played a headline show in Nashville, and I'm very, very excited and looking forward to sharing my live show and my band’s show with Nashville. We take it all over the world, so it'll be fun to bring it home. …I'm really, really excited and I have a bunch of friends, special guests, coming out, so it'll be a really good show.