* Senior Strategic Communication major Dalen Jensen was able to participate in Brownwood’s Feels Like Home Festival with a credentialed media pass as part of the Department of Communication’s student media team. He had front of stage media access and the opportunity to interview one of the headlining artists, Caroline Hale.
By the time Caroline Hale stepped onto the stage at the Feels Like Home Festival, she already knew what she was looking for.
It was not a particular lyric or melody. It was a feeling.
For Hale, that feeling is what keeps her writing, performing and developing as an artist. In Brownwood, she found it on a large stage, a live crowd and a community she said welcomed her from the moment she arrived.
“I tell everyone I always chase the feeling music gives me,” Hale said.
Hale is bringing her self-described “Twang Pop” sound to live shows across the country, carrying that same pursuit of emotion with her. That mindset has shaped the way she approaches her music, allowing the feeling behind a song to guide where it goes rather than following a specific formula.
Hale said her goal is to create the same freedom for the people listening.
“I hope they feel whatever they are supposed to feel,” Hale said. “I hope it fulfills them in whatever aspect they are needing in life.”
That connection between artist and audience is part of what makes performing live so important to Hale. Playing at the Feels Like Home Festival gave her the chance to step onto a bigger stage and experience the energy of a crowd that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
“Playing on a big stage with a great crowd is so fun,” Hale said. “It’s a feeling that you can’t deny.”
For Hale, being welcomed into a community like Brownwood made the opportunity to perform more meaningful. Hale said she enjoyed the city and was struck by its inviting atmosphere.
“Everyone here is super, super friendly and easy to meet,” Hale said. “It means so much to me that this community believed in me enough to reach out and want me to be a part of this.”
That belief comes at an important point in Hale’s career as she continues to establish herself as an artist. She is currently working on her second album while continuing to perform and develop the sound and identity she wants to bring to her music.
For Hale, her next step is to continue growing as an artist and finding new ways to connect with her audience.
With more shows ahead and a second album in the works, Hale is focused on “trying to hone in on my artistry.”
As her career continues to take shape, she is holding on to the same thing that brought her to music in the first place: the feeling.