Lakewood Native And Creative, Cassie Bishop Is Hemorrhaging Music This Year

Cassie Bishop pictured on the cover of the new Origami Moon EP, "My Raw Heart."

Lakewood native and creative, Cassie Bishop has music and art in her veins. Musically, she describes her original songs and sound as a dark ambient folk.  You can decide when you hear her music while you read this article. She has released her most recent recordings under the name “Origami Moon” found on Bandcamp or Spotify.

Bishop’s creative ways have translated into her current full-time gig as a personal designer with Stitch Fix, where she helps create custom wardrobe options for individuals that she has never met. This career path took a front row seat at the start of the pandemic. She had prior been managing an art studio, which required an in-person component.

It was during the pandemic that she started working solely from home. This gave her the time and space to conceive and gestate her latest solo EP release, “My Raw Heart” out on July 2. “Writing songs is part of me,” says Bishop, “…even if no one ever listened, it is a way to release emotions and to express my truth in a tangible way.”  

Cassie started writing songs and playing in bands during her time in high school at age 17, but she confesses to having taken an occasional hiatus. “I would join bands and then stop playing for periods of time,” says Bishop. During those times however, she accomplished quite a bit. She did some travelling before coming back home to earn her bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in education from Cleveland State University. Not to mention, she also wrote and published a children’s book.

Still, with music pulling her motivation she continued coming back to writing songs and collaborating with area musicians, moonlighting in multiple bands, including a local band called “How to Breathe Under Water” where she met musician/bandmate, Genevive Jencson. After touring the Cleveland club scene for nearly 3 years, the two separated from the band forming a duo together under the name, “Shy Moon.” Cassie had already honed skills recording in some of the earlier bands she had been involved with, and under the name “Shy Moon” had released a 2018 album called “The Year I Played Dead.” The “Shy Moon” duo had been working on a follow-up to ‘Played Dead’ with an album called, “Glow in the Dark,” when Covid 19 brought that effort to a pause.

It was during the months of the pandemic that Cassie continued writing and recording on her own. “I recorded songs in my living room before sending them off to be mixed,” explains Bishop. This effort resulted in her July 2nd release of the EP, “My Raw Heart” for her solo project, “Origami Moon.” Bishop performed and recorded all the instruments and whimsical vocals herself with added bongos from her partner Steve Sladic. The final mixes also included embellishments from mixing engineers Rick Spitalsky and Dylan Glover who each took on a few songs for the project. Cassie felt confident that the two would translate her recordings into the sound she was going for. She explains: “It is so hard to describe what my music sounds like... ambient, indie.“

“Origami Moon” and Cassie’s Duo “Shy Moon” have no upcoming performances to speak of yet. However, they plan to get out there sooner rather than later, as musicians continue to assess their comfort in venturing back out to perform after the pandemic. The “Shy Moon” duo, however, will still be planning on firing up the laptop this summer to finish up their album, “Glow in the Dark.” And Cassie also has big plans for recording into the fall, releasing more of her darker music around Halloween.

When asked what her best-case success story could be for her music, Cassie says: “I would love to get some of my music placed into television and movies.” And the music most certainly fits the bill.

Singer/Songwriter, Tracy Marie Greenberg is co-chair of The Lakewood Community Relations Advisory Commission, The Lakewood ADA Transition Task Force and is a 20-year Lakewood resident.

Tracy Marie

Singer/Songwriter, Tracy Marie Greenberg is also co-chair of The Lakewood Community Relations Advisory Commission, The Lakewood ADA Transition Task Force and is a 20-year Lakewood resident.

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Volume 17, Issue 13, Posted 1:56 PM, 06.16.2021