Keith Urban duet was the start for DiFruscio
When she was in high school, Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Cassandra DiFruscio went to a Keith Urban concert with a bit of pessimism.
She preferred rock, like her dad (a former member of Niagara progressive rock group Opus). Country music was a “no no” to her.
A few hours later, Urban rocked her world.
A few years later, she would be on stage with him.
In 2014, the former Miss Teen Niagara caught wind that one of country music’s biggest stars was offering female singers a chance to duet with him for one song at each tour stop. She sent a video of herself singing to his fan engagement manager.
Shortly after, while in Toronto, she got a call from Urban’s team at about 6 p.m.: Could she be in Indianapolis by 2 p.m. the next day?
“Obviously I’m like, ‘Yeah, for sure, I’ll be there. I’ll figure this out somehow.’ We couldn’t find any flights that would get me there on time, so my dad drove.” All night. For 14 hours.
She arrived in time for sound check, then waited around for that night’s concert. Just before the show Urban checked up on her to see if she was fine.
“He came over to see how I was doing, if I needed anything. It was just super sweet, he didn’t have to do that. He made me feel really comfortable.”
Midway through the show, she was introduced by Urban to a crowd of about 20,000 people, and they performed “We Were Us” — Urban’s duet with Miranda Lambert from his 2013 album “Fuse.”
“I’m still on that high,” she says. “It was crazy. There’s some pictures of me on stage where
I’ve never seen a smile that big on my face before. It’s obnoxious how excited I was.”
She left knowing one thing: She wanted to be on that stage again. So she went to work on a country career that brought her to Nashville with an O-1 Visa, given to artists with ‘extraordinary ability.’ In two years, she has cowritten about 150 songs, working alongside writers such as Emmywinner Chris Boardman and Niagara Falls native Dave Thomson, formerly of Wave.
While performing around the city, she’s also stockpiling songs for her debut album, expected by spring 2019.
“Co-writing’s got to be the most valuable tool in Nashville, because that’s how you network, that’s how you meet everyone you’re going to meet,” she says. “You’ll be at an event, and it turns out ‘We should write some time,’ and no one’s even heard each other’s music.
“When I first went there, they told me you can’t go out just looking like yourself — you need to make sure you look like an artist every time you go out. I used to think, ‘You’re crazy, I’m just going to the grocery store.’ You will see writers in the grocery store.”
The Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School grad has performed the national anthem at a Blue Jays game, sang for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and was a finalist for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada song competition for her original tune “Bring It Home.”
Currently visiting family in Niagara-on-the-Lake, she returns to Nashville in two weeks to again contend with massive competition.
“There are so many (singers),” she says. “A lot of amazing talent.
“I guess it comes down to trying to make myself unique. Stand apart. Not just singing, but make my look a little different.”
She’s found one unexpected advantage: Simply being Canadian.
“Everyone seems to be very interested in that in Nashville. They’re immediately a little bit fascinated. I have a feeling it has to do with (wanting) to break into Canadian radio as well. That might help a writer out if they’re writing with a Canadian artist.”