Date: August 1st, 2002
Location: Spring Hill Mall/VIP area of the concert
Thanks to: Kaci and her manager, Karen

For all the new fans, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?
[laughs] Tell you a little bit about myself - I am 14 years old, almost 15. My birthday is October 3rd, so it’s coming up. I can’t wait. Finally! Right now, I’m not anybody’s girl.

How young were you, when you decided you wanted to be a singer?
I knew by the time I was 9 years old that it was what I wanted to do.

Did anything or anyone specific inspire you to become a singer?
No, it’s just always been. I mean, I started singing as soon as I could speak and I started performing when I was 3 years old.

Have you had voice or dance lessons?
I did, when I was younger. I had dance lessons, you know the little tutus [does a cute move], and I took ballet and jazz and tap and a little bit of hip-hop. That was... hip hop when I was probably 10 and everything else when I was 5 years old, so I was doing really basic stuff.

Have you taken singing lessons, or are you still taking them?
Sporadically, I guess, throughout my life I’ve taken lessons. You know, I’ve had different vocal coaches, several different ones ... but I don’t have one right now.

Have you ever had any embarrassing stage performances?
Yes! [laughs] One really embarrassing one...where was I? I think I was in California and I was on an Otown tour. I was performing and while I was performing, my top, one of those ones that you tie up, came down. My top fell off. Luckily, one of my dancers caught it like right here [hands over collar bone]... and I was like, "Ew, what are you doing?" Then, one of my other dancers pulled over and took my mike and I’m still singing…The show must go on! So he was holding my mike and I kept singing and the other one and I were holding up my top, so it wouldn’t fall off as I was tying it. The two dancers were trying to distract the crowd. It didn’t work! Everyone was laughing!

Have you had any weird fan encounters?
Oh, my fans have done some... pretty different stuff [laughs]. Encounters, like have they done anything weird to me? No. I had a guy from England fly over to Florida, and I live in Florida. He drove from Orlando to where I live, which is like two hours away, and he just asked around town for my house. Actually, he found my house and came up to the door...I wasn’t home, though. Obviously, you get the phone calls. I’ve had to change my number.

You’re young and you have tons of fans. How do you deal with it? Are you getting sick of it, yet?
You know, it’s all about the fans.

Now that you have opened for Otown, do you find you get recognized more, when you're walking on the street?
From Otown?

Or from any tour, any big tour?
Yes. I think I get recognized a lot from TV where I have commercials going on right now, "Oh, I saw you on Nickelodeon" or "I saw you on ABC" or whatever. Just being on TV I get a lot of exposure.

How does it feel to be young and in the music scene?
Well, it feels pretty normal to me. I have been doing it my whole life. [laughs]

Do you have your own agent or manager? Do you have a group of people?
Oh, yeah, I've got everybody - manager, PR company, record company, booking agent, everything.

How many people work with you, such as composers, songwriters, choreographers, dance instructors?
[laughs] Oh, my! I swear it takes an army to make a star... I couldn’t name the amount of people who are working on this project. There are just so many companies, a bunch of companies, and they've got all of their employees working on my project.

How long does it take for you to learn new dance moves?
I can usually do about a song or two a day.

What is a typical week for you?
There really isn’t a typical week. It all depends on what’s going on, you know. If I’m overseas and I’m doing TV and radio, usually I wake up in the morning around 4:30 a.m., do hair and makeup 2 hours, go to the television show, do a magazine interview, go to the local radio station and then do an interview there, and then come back. They really keep you busy doing TV shows and interviews after that. Then I come back here and I go on tour or something. Usually, I have interviews during the day and then I get ready and do the show.

Does it get more hectic prior to a show or tour?
Any more hectic [laughs]? Yes. Well, it’s always hectic, really.

Do you have any touring plans for the future? Like you just having your own opening acts?
Oh, yeah, definitely, all in time.

When you record, do you do the whole song, or do you record clips of it that are then later put together?
I usually do a line at a time. Usually, I start out and do one run through all the way down. Then I take it all the way down for the first verse. Then the second verse, and then I do the chorus each line. You know, do each line one at a time. You try to do the whole entire first verse, but you can always go back for one word, one line.

About how many retakes do you have to do before a song is finished?
Oh, I don’t know. [laughs]

What are your goals/hopes to accomplish with your music?
I have PLENTY of goals and dreams that I plan on accomplishing. You know without dreams I wouldn’t be here where I am today, and I sure don’t plan on stopping. You know, I want to last. I want to be here for the long term. I don’t want to be a fad - you've got a couple of hits, a couple of albums, and you’re out. That’s not what I want.

Since you're underage, you have to have a chaperone. Do you take your whole family with, or just one member at a time?
Usually, my mom. I always have someone.

How do you deal with school on the road? Are you tutored or homeschooled? Or do you go to school?
I started homeschooling after the 6th grade and had to take a test every year for home schooling (similar to the SAT's). For three years now I've tested out of High School or post high school. So, now I take College classes over the internet and I'm working on my AA degree.

In a few years, if you no longer are singing, what would you do? Would you still want to stay in some area of the music industry?
I think I will always have something to do with the music industry. I write, also I produce, so I’ll continue with that. And I act, and I do plan on incorporating that in the future, do a movie or whatever. Also, you have to remember college. Start taking classes, and I do want to GO to a college, because I never got to GO to a real high school, so that’s pretty important to me.

If you had to do EVERYTHING all over again, would you change anything?
I like the way it turned out. Sometimes I look back and wish I knew then what I know now, but I don’t believe in, you know, yeah, it is what it is. I love the way it’s all turned out. If you change something then, it could change your path entirely and I like where I am and how I got here.

And last, but not least, if you could say anything to the fans reading or watching this now, what would you say?
Well, everyone out there has a dream. We all aspire to be something worthwhile. Living my dream, that’s my goal. I’m living my dream and I’m doing what I love to do. And I would just like to say to everyone out there to go for that goal. Accomplish it. Don’t give up. My motto is "If you can see it, you can do it". Believe in yourself, no matter what anybody else says.

Thank you very much.