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About Casey McQuillen

Standing on stage in front of a crowded auditorium of students, Casey McQuillen bares her soul. She doesn’t simply sing her songs; she talks. And she talks a lot. This isn’t your typical pop singer/songwriter telling a sweet story about her love songs. Casey is a young woman with a message: you are not alone. She speaks about her experience with bullying. She speaks about her struggles with anxiety. She speaks about her desire to fit in. She’s sincere, and each time she completes a performance, she’s changed lives.

Through her music and her concerts, Casey is vulnerable. Her songs are about self-confidence, being lonely and falling in and out of love. It’s an honest account of her life, and it’s empowering. As a recording artist with a solid fan base, Casey uses her status as a role model to help others. Whether on stage at a music venue or performing for students in their schools, she inspires her audience.

Casey didn’t set out to become an anti-bullying advocate; it just happened. What began as a favor to a former middle school teacher snowballed into a piece of her career that sets her apart from her peers. The songs Casey wrote alone in her room at thirteen became the foundation of these school performances. The “You Matter” Tour is an interactive concert that allows Casey to connect deeply with students about bullying and self-confidence. She is, simply, a singer who has an effective program about self-love.

“I have never met a 15-year-old who thinks they came out of middle school unscathed,” explains Casey. “It is so hard to hold on to self-confidence at a time in your life when you have so many insecurities, whether it be about your appearance, your grades or your friends; it’s universal.”

Casey’s goal is to help students define their own sense of self worth, regardless of the opinions of others. They might not be able to control what happens to them, but they can reject the notion that it defines them. Casey gives these children a voice through her songs and stories. A former Season 13 contestant on American Idol, Casey uses her appearance on the show to highlight this idea of self-doubt.

“Students are always so excited that I was on American Idol. At the beginning of the “You Matter” Tour, they perceive me as famous, confident and successful. But as I walk them through my experience on the show, they start to see it from my perspective. They see the pressure I placed on myself, my fear of disappointing everyone I knew, and the shame I felt for being cut. By the end of the story, they can see how my insecurities distorted my perception of reality. When I finally recognized this duality, the success everyone else saw and the failure that I saw, I realized that I was holding myself back because I feared what people would think. I think the students deal with these same insecurities on a daily basis, whether it be auditioning for the school play or running for student council. It’s all universal.”

Casey walked away from that experience with new confidence and her own version of the golden rule: It’s not just about treating others the way you want to be treated, it’s also about treating yourself the way you would treat others.

“You would never judge your friend for only making JV, would you?” Casey asks. “You’d think that was awesome. So why do you judge yourself that way?”

At the end of each performance on her “You Matter” tour, Casey sings “Beautiful” – the first single off of her new EP. It focuses on a specific moment in time when, at 17, she looked in the mirror and noticed everything she wished she could change. That secret belief that life would be better if only she were beautiful still occasionally haunts her today.

Casey shares her personal stories because she understands that being honest about her emotional journey, both on the “You Matter” tour and in her new EP, allows her to connect with her fans and spread an important message: you are not alone.

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