Cassadee Pope Shares the Lessons She’s Learned From Blake Shelton

Cassadee Pope rose to fame as the Season 3 winner of The Voice in 2012, releasing her freshman Frame By Frame album less than a year later. But now, with more than two years of experience behind her and having had the chance to open up for several artists, including Rascal Flatts, Dierks Bentley and Tim McGraw, Pope is a more seasoned artist as she prepares to release her sophomore album.

"I’ve learned to be respectful," Pope tells The Boot. "I’ve always believed if you’re nice to people then things will happen. But especially in country music, I’ve met some of the nicest people, and they’ve been some of the biggest stars.

"Like Blake Shelton, on The Voice, he was just so nice to every person he ever came in contact with, and he’s the busiest guy ever," she adds. "He has every right to be grumpy some days -- he gets up really early -- but he’s not. It reminds me to treat others the way you want to be treated."

Shelton, who served as Pope's coach on The Voice, has continued to mentor and help the 25-year-old.

"[He taught me] to not be afraid to take risks," Pope says. "I’ve shown him a lot of my new songs, and he’s just basically been like, 'You’re different. You’re not the usual mold of a country singer, because of your background and your style, so embrace that and know that the country fans are still by your side and will still be there for you. But don’t neglect who you are.' That’s really given me the courage to be me and not ignore my rock edge."

Pope is playing several fairs and festivals over the summer. A complete list of her upcoming dates is available on her website.