(CSC) 1. Thanks for the visit. Always good to see you! So, you are currently out on the road in support of your latest album, “Me.” How have the fans been responding to the new music so far out on the road?
(Jo Dee Messina)
We've had a really great time with the new material. The fans have been really receptive, and we share stuff from the new album and stuff that I've been writing that has never been recorded yet. So, I think people are here to see the music and they've been really supportive of it.
(CSC) 2. Having been one of the very first country music artists to use Kickstarter to fund your latest album, what do you value from that entire experience?
(Jo Dee Messina)
It was a lot. You can't simplify it and say just one or two things. People have an opinion and they are quick to make a decision. In comparison to a record label where you have one guy in a cubical that's afraid to say whether the song should go on the record or not. People will tell you what they think and they're very honest. People like all different kinds of music, you know.
We have everything on the record from bluegrass to right down the middle of country to R&B and rock. It shows a variation of people's styles and what they like. They’re all country fans but they still like different sounding music too. For the most part people are just very kind and supportive on my Facebook page and it's great to have that support.
(CSC) You seem to interact quite a lot with your fans on social media!
(JDM) I do! A lot of artists don't run their Facebook page or don't even know that it exists or pay attention to it. So, I like to let my fans know that they matter, they count and I try to respond and interact with them as much as possible.
(CSC) 3. Your latest single, “He’s Messed Up.” Tell us about the story and inspiration behind the song!
(Jo Dee Messina)
It was kind of dictated by the fans. It was the best-selling single (laughs) on the record and what's interesting about that song is that it’s not studio singers in the background; it's the fans! The Kickstarter backers are the ones singing in the background of that, so you'll have to check it out. There’s even a 14-year-old girl who took a day off of school, she played hooky to come, (laughs) and her mom took her; she's from Florida and they came to Nashville where we recorded the song.
(CSC) And you wrote the song, so tell us the story behind it!
(JDM) (Laughs) Well it's about a guy who's just a mess and stays a mess. I don't even know how to explain it. He's kind of a guy that I met years ago in the industry. He is not with my record label, not an artist, but a guy that I met and I was just like, "Oh gosh, he was always backstage and he was totally slimy.” I just saw him recently and he's the exact same. (Laughs) You know, hanging backstage and it's like “girls, girls, no, no, no… you don't want anything to do with that.” Anyways it was inspired by a real person. The single will be officially released on October 27th, 2014!
(CSC) 4. Tell us about the 21 Day Fix fitness challenges and your fans overwhelming response in the program. How did this all come together?
(Jo Dee Messina)
My cousin is a Beach Body coach and she talked me into doing the 21 Day Fix and I'm like, "I'm not gonna suffer through this on my own," so I invited fans to join. People joined too late, people joined and asked if we'd do another round so, we ended up doing another round. So, I decided that I would go into this and have them come in and form a team under me so that I can have this interaction to be silly and goofy but I bombed on the second round.
I totally want to blame it on Mickey Mouse because we went to Disney World the first week or something like that so forget it, there's nothing healthy to eat there. I mean, the mouse eats cheese. So, all that to say this round is gonna be serious business because I have a goal that I want to be at by Christmas.
We have a private group online. I do little videos, share them with the group and we do Ustream. I'm going to do food prep and just set the camera in my kitchen and they can watch me, (laughs) like The Truman Show, just randomly preparing food. (Laughs)
(CSC) 5. In regard to your individual fitness challenge, how are you coming along and how do you maintain your daily regimen with being on the road?
(Jo Dee Messina)
Today we were running and there's lasagna here to eat backstage (laughs). It is vegetarian lasagna but I did have the salad with a little piece of lasagna.
(CSC) How does this particular program work?
(JDM) This is strictly about eating clean and portion control. It comes with little containers so you have four green containers of vegetables and then you have three red containers of protein each day. Then there are so many starches, healthy fats, but it gives you the containers and numbers so you know how much of what to eat like three of these, two of those, four of those. You just make meals with whatever fits in the container and it has food suggestions as well. It takes twenty-one days to form a habit, so it's the thought behind it. The way the workouts are they're only a half an hour long and I was fascinated because it works every muscle every day, but really focuses on an individual group each day. I don't know how to explain it to you. You'll have to join us Christian! (Laughs)
(CSC) We’ll see! ;)
(CSC) 6. Moving forward, what exciting plans/projects do you have in store for your fans next?!
(Jo Dee Messina)
I am writing a ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul; Thanks To Mom’ book that is coming out on Mother's Day. It will include stories from lots of people about what they're thankful to their moms about. I'm going into the studio to cut some more material and I have the new single coming out plus we will probably have video footage to go with it. I always tell people to follow me on Facebook so they can keep up with what's going on, and Instagram, Twitter and YouTube! (Laughs)
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