Kassi Ashton Recalls Hometown Struggles in 'California, Missouri' Single

Kassi Ashton doesn't have only fond memories of her hometown of California, Mo., but that doesn't mean she didn't want to write about it. The rising star wrote "California, Missouri," as a tribute to the hometown she both loved and loathed.

"It's the only song my entire life I knew I wanted to write because in country music, a lot of hometown songs -- most of them -- heavily romanticize hometowns," Ashton shared with PopCulture.com at a recent media event. "I think that's really beautiful if your hometown is your haven and your special spot, that's cool, but mine was a little different. It's a double-edged sword. I love it, but love to leave it."

The town, two and a half hours from both St. Louis and Kansas City, boasts only 4000 people, which is why Ashton wrote it with those who are experiencing a similar upbringing as hers in mind.

"It was as honest and as real to my phrasing and my opinions as possible," Ashton explains of the song, which says, "And if I got ahead of that stoplight I could get ahead of anything that hurt me / Anywhere I go I don't feel like you was that good or bad."

"I want the kids who had the same experience as I did in a small town, which is not exactly a pink cloud, pink glass type experience, to have a song and to have someone they can connect with," notes Ashton. "I want the people there to know I love them, but I also want them to know that it was not the easiest thing growing up there and being different."

It's Ashton's own uniqueness as a child that helped inspire the music she creates now.

"When you're the weird art kid, who is in dance six days a week even though half of me was country on a cattle farm, I would try to hide that side because of all the people that were mean to me. "I was like, 'I don't want to be anything like you. If you wear cowboy boots, I own four pair, but I'm not wearing them to school because you wear those and you're mean to me.'"

Instead, Ashton found power in being different and unique, a theme that is woven through all of her songs.

"I would wear combat boots and a pencil skirt and a Lady Gaga T-shirt from Hot Topic just to make people mad because they didn't like me because I was different," says Ashton. "I liked art and I was in dance and I was the president of the Drama Club ... I had counselors and teachers recommending that I be home-schooled because people were so mean."

Those early years in California, Mo. ultimately shaped the artist, and person, Ashton is today.

"I think that's how I am really comfortably live in my skin now," Ashton adds. "I don't care. I wanted to get that across. Not in a 'Whoa is me' sentiment, but in a 'It's OK, and you get through it and you get out.'"

Photo Credit: Instagram/KassiAshton