FALL RIVER: Cassondra Todd looks no further than her piano for relaxation when she’s feeling stressed or needing to express her emotions.
The 17-year-old Fall River resident has just released her debut 13-song CD, Music to Inspire, with all the instrumental music on it having been written by herself. The CD was recorded by James Logan. She can’t read notes and found it easier to do her own thing.”
“I like being creative and finding ways to express my feelings,” said Todd. “I wasn’t good with words, so I put into music, and created my own songs.
Todd was introduced to the piano when she was still in diapers—at 10-months-old, when she fell in love with it. She just fooled around with it at that time. It wasn’t until she was four that she began taking lessons.
She said she likes being able to get away from everything and get lost in her music.
“I just like being in my own head while I’m playing,” she said. “It’s good to just get away and play things that calm me down or help me with things that upset me or make me happy.
“I like being alone some times.”
The humble and laid back Todd admitted she’s not one for the spotlight, even saying many of her friends were likely unaware she had a CD out. Well, that will be until they read The Laker, she said with a chuckle.
Todd explained how the CD came about.
“My mom thought it would be a good idea to record it because since I don’t read music I couldn’t write it down, but I recorded it on my device,” she said. “She wanted to have a copy so she could just listen to it. She then just made more copies.”
What does she think of having her very own CD?
“It’s pretty cool,” said Todd.
She said often times she will write a piece of a song, leave the piano, then go back and finish piecing it together. Some songs take a period of time, and other times she can sit down and goes right away and creates a song on the spot.
The Lockview High School student said some of the inspiration for her songs comes from simple things like her sister Krystal leaving for Fort McMurray.
“I was sad that she was leaving so I went to piano and started to fool around with a song, and then I made it,” she said. “Every single song is different. Some times I’ll just fool around and I hear something that sounds cool. I just continue from there.”
Todd said songs come from either being bored or the emotion she is feeling.
“Whatever emotion I’m feeling and if I hear something in my head, I try to put that into music on the piano,” she said.
She explained why she likes instrumental music the best.
“It helps me, it soothes me,” she said. “I want other people to hear it too, to see if it can help them feel better if they’re stressed or down.”
The CD’s are not available at the store or online, but by asking Todd or her mom Brenda Saunders-Todd. They cost $15 each to purchase.
