TC Cassidy has been warmly welcomed back into the country music fold, and her aptly titled new single, Alive Again, celebrates overcoming demons.
The name Tania, or TC, Cassidy is sure to be familiar to those fans of Australian country music in the 1990s and, at the urging of friend and producer Angus Gill, she released an album last year.
Alive Again, released on July 28, shows listeners a more mainstream take on TC’s musical talents.
Although not written by TC, the singer-songwriter relates deeply to the song’s themes.
“We were talking about what to record next when Angus mentioned this song that he wrote with Alan Mackey, Tim James and Rivers Rutherford,” she said.
The song was born in 1976 when Alan was working with Countdown.
“Alan started writing the song, but then shared the concept with Angus (decades later), and they co-wrote it with Tim James who has written for Chris Stapleton and Rivers Rutherford who wrote When I Get Where I’m going for Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton,” TC said.
In the three decades that TC was out of the music industry, she was raising two children, and battling eating disorder, bulimia.
“My eldest daughter, Shelby, my 15-year-old saved my life because the day I found out I was pregnant, I knew I had to do something about the bulimia,” TC said.
“The song is all about battling demons and I battled a demon and came out the other side. This was also during a toxic relationship and domestic violence and that’s where it struck a chord with me.
“If speaking out about this helps one person, it’s so worth it because I battled it so long: it affects your personality, mood swings, everything and I don’t wish anyone to go down that spiral.”
The anthem of survival is also sure to strike a chord with listeners with a positive feel that reaches into the country disco realms.
“It’s still got those country instruments with a country dance vibe – it doesn’t matter what style I sing, it’s still going to sound country,” TC said.
“It’s still authentically true to myself, but hopefully it can attract a mainstream audience as well and shows an evolution in my music.”
The film clip is sure to turn a few heads, featuring brightly coloured drag queens showcasing the fun theme of the song where everybody’s overcome the darkness and come out the other side.
“I heard Alive Again on a work tape and I said, ‘this could have easily have been written for me’ and it can relate to so many on many levels,” TC said.
“We show this in the film clip with the fellow who’s beaten an alcohol addiction, the girl in the toxic relationship and I wanted to feature the drag queens – people who’ve come out and been true to themselves and are feeling alive again.”