In an age where social media prevails in almost all aspects of our lives, singer and songwriter Cade Thompson is determined to use it in a positive way to connect with those who listen to his music, and beyond. Even at 19 years old, Cade already gives off a confident sense of self, rooted in a deep faith that began in childhood and was nourished by family and his local church. His love for Jesus springs out of every note and lyric in his music.
In celebration of his recent record deal, Cade is inviting people to create the official music video for the single “Every Step of the Way.” I spoke with Cade recently about his music, his faith, and how excited he is about the contest and how he can help reach people with a message of hope.
Hey Cade, thanks for talking with me today! You’ve been busy this year. Tell me what you’ve been up to lately.
Well staying afloat here in 2020, I’ve been working on a lot of new things. Just finished up my debut record, which I’m excited for people to hear about next year and trying to enjoy the season.
I caught the 1980s remix version of your song “Provider” this morning. I’m not going to tell you I’m old enough to appreciate 80s music! I will tell you it was definitely a nostalgic wonderful moment.
Oh man. I’m so happy how that version turned out. Fun fact. It was actually all real vintage eighties gear used on that song version. So it’s the real deal. Incredible. My manager reached out to a couple of friends on Facebook and found someone with the DeLorean about 15 minutes away from where I live. And we said, this is the best opportunity we have to take advantage of this. So we got in the car and met up and took a whole video shoot and photo shoot out of the deal.
You were just signed to Red Street Records. How did it all begin?
Yeah. So, funny story – actually rewind a couple of years ago, I wrote the song “Provider” and Jay DeMarcus, the head of the label Red Street Records. He was in the car with his friend, Jason. He had got sent this song “Provider” before it was ever released in the world. And Jason said, ‘Hey, you got to turn the song up. There’s something on this.’ And a couple of weeks later, I took a meeting with Jay and the whole team at Red Street. I just fell in love with their vision, for what they want to do and how they can come alongside my vision for my music and what I want to do. “Provider” was actually the first song that I released under Red Street Records. We released it in February of this year, right before a pandemic hit the world, but it’s been so cool to just see that message of the song reach people in the season where people are struggling with finances and relationships and seeing that God can provide for us in so many different ways. So that’s been a beautiful thing to see in 2020.
I saw that you moved to Nashville about a year ago. I’m curious about how music became a part of your life before you started recording.
I was born and raised for half of my life in Joplin, Missouri. I was raised in the church. My parents were amazing examples of faith for me in my life. My mom was a children’s pastor and a youth pastor. So I was always at first kid to church, the last one to leave – that type of deal. I was also raised on Christian radio and Christian music. I found that there was something so special and different about those truths being poured into my life at a young age. I remember specifically on my front porch singing karaoke when I was four to five years old, that’s literally how I learned to sing. And singing in the car to any song I could possibly hear on the radio. I always loved music. I was always around music. My preschool teacher told my parents, ‘Hey, this kid can already sing harmonies. You should maybe put him in some piano lessons.’ So my parents put me in piano lessons and I fell in love with music. I eventually started playing acoustic guitar. As I got older, fast forward to middle school. I was at school. I was actually always the kid that was singing in class, probably slightly annoying, but one of my teachers, she just so happened to be a youth leader at my church. And she said, ‘Hey, I noticed you’re always singing in class. How about you come and sing a church one Wednesday night?’ And I took her up on it. From that moment on, I just fell in love with the heart of worship and music, and eventually began to write songs. They were not good to start, but that’s how the journey always is. I began to write songs, found that, wow, I really enjoy writing songs. And I, I saw that some of these songs were connecting with people and God began to open up doors ever since those days in my middle school years.
It seems like your family was the source of a source of encouragement, and you’re kind of passing that along to others. So what did your parents think when you moved from South Dakota to Nashville?
Honestly, this journey has kind of been crazy. I started making trips to Nashville four years ago, and there was a producer that took a risk on me to come in town, which I’m so thankful for. And so I started really young, not knowing what this would ever turn into. As I was getting ready to get ready to graduate high school, I just felt like this is the next step. At that point, I didn’t have a record deal. I got an apartment down here in faith, and this is honestly how this song, “Every Step of the Way” it was birthed out of this, me looking back on my life and saying, you know what? There’s been times where it hasn’t been easy where I’ve had rejection or I’ve had doubts or I’ve had fear, but as I exited out of the seasons, I really can see God and his goodness every step of the way. I think a verse that sticks out to me that has really impacted me is
. It says, ‘the heart of a man can plan his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps.’ And you know, in a year like this, where it’s hard to see what the next steps are going to be, what it’s going to like, what it’s going to turn out to be, let that just be a reminder for people today that the Lord, he establishes our steps. And there’s such beauty in that.
What are you saying to the people in your age group that other people aren’t?
That’s a great question. I think I have experienced and have seen what my peers go through. You know, I was raised in a public school and I remember my first day of high school. My mom asked me, ‘Hey, how’s your first day of school?’ And I honestly don’t share the story too often, but I kind of broke down in tears because my heart was just broken because I saw that there were people with no joy there. And from that moment on, I decided in my music and what I create, I’m gonna spread that joy. I want to be a voice for a generation and people that feel like they have no voice. So it’s been so cool to see that message spread and even to people of all generations. I’m so thankful for Christian radio and how they embrace my music and my mission and my songs. I feel it’s a bringing a freshness and just reminding us of these truths that we all desperately need today.
Someone commented on YouTube that your music had given them the guts to audition for a worship team.
Yeah, I think it’s so cool about the power of music. I just stepped out at a young age. I really didn’t know what I was doing. I just was trying to stay faithful and I believe God does something so powerful when we just say yes to him. And that could mean something big. That could mean something small that could eventually lead to something incredible that the Lord is going to do. So, you know, if I can just give encouragement to people to say yes and watch God do the rest.
One of the ways that you’re reaching out to listeners is this contest that’s going on right now. And it’s just awesome. Can you tell me a little bit about it?
We launched out an official music video contest for my single right now on radio called “Every Step of the Way.” I’m super excited because I’m all about connecting with my fans in different ways and kind of bridging the gap to make it feel like family. How it works is we filmed all of the assets for the music video, and if you go to cadethompsoncontest.com, you can enter in to download the assets. And then you edit the video animate it, do the whole thing, tell the story, and turn in the video. We already have a lot of entries and we’re excited to see those entries continue.
There’s an amazing, amazing judge team, Jay DeMarcus, Kevin Rand, Rick Eldridge, and myself, just some veteran people in the industry that I’ve had the honor of working with over this past year through Red Street Records. There’s also a $1000 Amazon gift card. So I mean, you can’t beat that. And if you win, you also get to say, ‘Hey, I created and produced the official music video for “Every Step of the Way.” I feel like being able to create in this season is a great way to get yourself kind of out of the headspace of wrapped in this world and take your eyes off that for a minute and find some freshness.
The contest ends December 31, 2020. Learn more at cadethompsoncontest.com
