August 30, 2023 Issue, Page 21 of 28

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AT THE RODEO, Wednesday, August 30, 2023 PGI 3 as, here in a couple of weekends. We looked at to record and have songwriting sessions, but a bunch of towns that are west of Fort Worth, moving there is the last thing she wants to do. because I didn't want to be in the big city. I'm Her career can explode without being in Nash- going to be close to Fort Worth making the ville. connections and playing gigs in the stock- “T have just started working with a booking yards. I'm going to write a whole bunch of manager. It's called Great Plains Talent. Jor- songs,” Caroline Grace explained. dan Cain runs it. He has a booking agent that She continued to say that writing is a learn- I just started working with,” Caroline Grace ing process that she is working on. “Take Me said. Dancing” was the name of her first EP (ex- Country music has been part of herlife from | tended play). a young age. She grew up listening to artists “That's not the first song I wrote, but it's such as Randy Travis, George Strait, and Alan the first one I was confident enough to take Jackson. She learned to love it from her moth- downstairs and play for my parents. They were er, Christi Thomas. like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that's an actual song,” she “She (her mother) was very, very country, laughed. very country and she grew up listening to Pictured are the Thomas family, from left Georgia, Christi, Josh, Caroline Grace, and ‘They sent the song to a producer in Nash- country music and riding horses. So she was Abigail. Courtesy photo ville, and he wanted her information. This is the Western cowgirl influence, and it was in- the one that sent her to Nashville. Caroline stantly my favorite. We had a lot of other Grace continued to write and recorded those music in our lives, too, because my dad (Josh as well. Those songs and EP are available on all Thomas) loves a lot of other a music, too. But streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple country music made me feel so comfortable,” Music, and Pandora. she said. Living in Nashville is not on Caroline Grace's Additionally, Caroline Grace is a cowg bucket list. She said that she wants to fly there She started on cow horse. In her junior and se- HAVE FUN AT l.«RODEO Picturedis Caroline Grace with her‘boyfriend, Cash Fuese, PRCA calf roper. Courtesy THE RODEO! photo. nior year of high school she competed in high that gets stuck in people's heads. She wants school rodeos and wanted to continue to be them to be recognizable and different. on the ranch horse team at OSU. ‘As she focuses on writing songs and trav- “We ended up deciding that if I wanted to cling to different singing gigs, Caroline Grace bea musician and wanted to be a music artist, said she is determined to return to Elk City that I needed to solely focus on that. So for to play at least once or twice a year. She has now, I have rodeo on pause. I'm going to try played with Stoney LaRue and facetimed with to get my career going, and hopefully a few Wynona Judd, who loved her voice and want- years down the road I can pick it back up,” she ed to talk to her. noted. “If I'm out on tour someday, all over the Right now, her biggest goal is songwriting. country, I'm going to make it a point to come She has made up her mind to write four songs back and play in Elk City. I love, love Elk City. a day and be a prolific songwriter. Although Tlove being home. I love the town. I love the she said that it doesn’t come naturally, she is people. I mean, this is where I've been my trying to get to alevel of having piles of songs. entire life. So I will always come back to my She seems to understand that not all of them hometown,” Caroline Grace concluded. will be hits, but she wants to focus on writing. Follow her tours and schedule on her Face- Hutton Inc. “What matters most if you want to make it, book page. She is the daughter of Josh and you can have an amazing voice; you can have Christi Thomas, and sister to Abigail and 19676 Rte 66 N, the looks; you can have all these things; but Georgia Thomas. She has special thanks to 115 E Broadway Ave, Elk City the songs are the most important,” she said. her boyfriend, Cash Fuesz, who has support- Elk City, OK 73644 Songs that have a storyline are what inter- ed her while on his own PRCA rodeo tour as 580-225-1936 580-225-0225 cus on storytelling in her lyrics with melodies City Rodeo of Champions on Sunday. est Caroline Grace the most. She wants to fo- a calf roper. He will be competing in the Elk