The Spirit of Indie: Cassandra Cole’s Latest EP

September 20, 2026

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Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Cassandra Cole

Cassandra Cole is a California-born, Minnesota-based singer-songwriter whose music occupies the space where alternative soul, indie folk, and emotionally charged songwriting meet. Now rooted in the Twin Cities, Cole has developed a sound that is intimate without being fragile, atmospheric without losing its human center, and driven by a willingness to explore difficult emotions with uncommon honesty.

Drawing inspiration from storytellers and musical risk-takers such as Fiona Apple, Phoebe Bridgers, and Madison Cunningham, Cole approaches songwriting as both reflection and release. Her songs examine love, identity, resilience, uncertainty, and the complicated work of understanding yourself while life continues moving around you. Rather than smoothing away the uncomfortable edges, she often leans into them, allowing vulnerability to become one of the strongest elements of her music.

Cole introduced herself to listeners with her 2020 debut album, Steps, a collection that established her voice within the Midwest independent music community. The album showcased a songwriter already interested in emotional depth and melodic storytelling, combining expressive vocals with arrangements that allowed the lyrics to remain at the center.

Her next chapter moves into more personal territory with The Grey, an EP created during one of the most challenging periods of her life. Written while navigating personal upheaval and searching for clarity, the project reflects the emotional landscape suggested by its title: that uncertain territory between certainty and confusion, strength and vulnerability, darkness and whatever light might be waiting on the other side.

Musically, The Grey finds Cole embracing a more organic and stripped-back approach. Acoustic instrumentation provides much of the foundation, while atmospheric textures and carefully layered production preserve the depth and movement associated with her earlier work. The result is soulful, reflective, and deliberately unhurried, giving the songs enough space for their emotional weight to settle in.

That balance between intimacy and strength has also become central to Cole’s live performances. Over the past several years, she has appeared at regional festivals and venues including the Big Turn Music Festival, Mall of America, and Rivertown Fall Art Festival, steadily building a following throughout the Twin Cities and surrounding music community.

Onstage, Cole’s songs take on another dimension. What begins as deeply personal writing becomes a shared experience between performer and audience, creating the kind of connection that has always been at the heart of singer-songwriter music. Her performances are less about spectacle than presence—the feeling that artist and listener are occupying the same emotional space for a few minutes at a time.

As Cassandra Cole continues to develop her voice, her music remains grounded in the belief that honesty can create connection. Whether exploring heartbreak, personal growth, resilience, or the uncertainty that lives between those things, she writes from a place that recognizes life rarely arrives in clean categories.

With The Grey, Cole is not pretending to have every answer. Instead, she is documenting what it feels like to keep moving while searching for them. In doing so, she continues to establish herself as a distinctive voice within the Twin Cities music community—an artist willing to sit inside life’s complicated middle ground and turn it into songs that remind listeners they are not navigating it alone.