Cassadee Pope, courtesy.

Cassadee Pope launched her career in West Palm Beach with Hey Monday at the height of pop-punk’s heyday. After the band called it quits, she took to “The Voice” and won, launching her solo career.

She went to Nashville, ending up fusing country and pop. But that journey was unfulfilling, leading Pope to take it back to where she started. Fresh off releasing her fourth album, Hereditary, Pope said she feels relieved that the excitement of longtime fans matches her own.

“It’s been really overwhelming,” Pope said. “A lot of fans have said they’ve reengaged because they weren’t really fans of country music, so they really didn’t stick with me through that whole stint.”

Pope said the return to form wasn’t a decision she made all at once. It began with “More to Me.” The dark and intimate mid-tempo rocker could have easily worked as a contemporary country song, but it hits harder with the rock edge. The personal lyrics speak to the challenges in letting go of the frustrations brought by a past lover long after they’re gone.

At the time, she was feeling creatively stunted and frustrated that her prior record, Thrive, didn’t get people talking like she’d hoped it would.

“That was the first song I wrote for the project before I even knew I was writing for a project,” she said. “There was no goal for the song; it was just about seeing what comes out.”

After she heard the demo she’d recorded, Pope’s passion was reignited, however. She said she’d heard something in her voice that had been missing for years. That gave her much-needed validation, even though it was scary for her to move away from a sound she’d been trying to build for more than a decade.

“I got so used to the parameters of writing a country song and the things that you’re allowed to sing about as a woman, things you’re not allowed to sing about, or you can sing about but they won’t embrace you if you’re too risqué,” Pope said. “Like if you curse in a song, that’s a big no-no.”

Once she got over that, finding her voice again because a bit like riding a bike, with the familiarity and fun that got her into music in the first place. Making it a point to work with new songwriters, she said she found common ground from her own musical early days with Hey Monday.

“It was really trippy to see people 15 years younger than me doing the things I used to do,” she said.

The album’s title is a reference to the universal experience navigating life through the lens of generational influence and family, and the theme shows up in her lyrics. Trust and confidence, and the struggles to maintain them, are part of a common thread that runs through many of the songs.

The Warped Tour vet said she’s seen progress for women in pop-punk, but there’s still plenty of room for growth. She said continued problems include festivals not booking enough women, male bands not bringing enough female artists on tour and the industry not hiring women behind the scenes. It’s a conversation that’s getting louder. Pope said the status quo is slowly changing.

“I’ve noticed women lifting each other up more so now than when I was with Hey Monday,” she said. “Back in the day, it seemed like there wasn’t enough room for all of us; at least that’s what people made us feel like.”

Pope does her part, working or hiring women when she can. She makes it a point to have women or her touring crew.

“There is enough space, and we need to carve out that space if they don’t give it to us,” she said.

At shows supporting the album, Pope has been playing some from throughout her career, even the country material, which she said ignoring would be a disservice to fans. But she’s planning on doing it with a twist.

“I let myself explore what those older country songs would sound like with a more rock edge to them,” she said.

While her sound has changed over the years, Pope said her goal was always to tell her story with her voice.

“It gave me a moment of pride,” she said. “There was always a through-line, and I was always in every song, it was never this huge departure of who I am to fit in to a genre.”

She’ll face a full circle moment in October, when she’ll reunite with Hey Monday guitarist Alex Lipshaw and perform 2008’s Hold On Tight in full at When We Were Young fest in Las Vegas this fall. She attended in 2023, where she joined Simple Plan, Yellowcard and Michelle Branch and sang.

“I think it helped really bring some awareness to the festival organizers that I exist,” Pope said. “ I think when they were putting the lineup together and they realized there was a severe lack of women, they got in touch and sent the offer for Hey Monday to play.”

Lipshaw helped with a few songs on Hereditary, as well as some new music to come, she added.

“It feels nice to revisit Hey Monday in a much healthier way with a fellow band member who is just a good person, and we’ve remained like family, so that will be really special,” she said.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.