Cassandra Kubinski ~ 08/11/20 ~ Stargate to the Cosmos ~ Hosts Janet Kira Lessin

Noted singer Cassandra Kubinski grew up in Enfield CT, surrounded by suburbia, fields, two amazing sisters, and friends. They would occasionally take vacations to Florida, Tennessee, or the Poconos, and she distinctly remembers Billy Joel’s “That’s Not Her Style” blasting from the speakers long before I’d ever sipped a margarita (much less on the White House lawn). Her parents’ love for 1970s singer-songwriters like Joel, Carole King, Jackson Browne, and Joni Mitchell, coupled with more theatrical artists like Bette Midler, and Barbra Streisand got inside her ears, feet, and heart and planted the seeds for the musical storyteller she’s become. She picked up voice lessons around age 10 and sang in her first community theatre production, the musical “Annie” shortly after. Thusly emboldened by her bit part as orphan Kate, she decided she’d like to play the lead, which she got the chance to do in Goodspeed Musicals’ 20th-anniversary production of the show. Just imagine, she had an Equity card and a paycheck at age 12! Plus 8 shows a week, and a crash course in “the industry.”  She went on to play small parts in the popular TV show “Spin City” with Michael J. Fox, the film Finding Forrester with Sean Connery, and other regional and summer stock shows before heading to Florida State University to study theatre. It was there that she turned onto the sounds of a new singer/songwriter era, with artists like John Mayer, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Gavin Degraw, and Vanessa Carlton inspiring her way. Since moving to NYC at age 20, her adventures have been many - singing alongside countless artists in village clubs, on tour through the US, Europe, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia; recording with huge artists; composing and bandleading for TV, and so much more. https://youtu.be/uXxCDJ5ZoW4