No tours, no shows for now, but Missouri’s Casi Joy is making new music — and fans

Country singer Casi Joy spent the last two months in her tour bus. Unfortunately, it’s been parked the whole time.

“It’s a bittersweet thing,” she says. “We just bought a bus to tour the country, and now the world is shut down. It feels like we’re touring, but we just never move.”

The Smithville native is currently sequestered 30 miles outside of Nashville.

“With all the campgrounds being closed, we pulled it up in front of a friend’s house in Murfreesboro, and we’re staying with our friends who have other roommates,” she says. “There’s a group of seven people in their home, so we’re at least able to have human interaction and not be talking to the walls.”

Yet this is hardly stopping the graduate of Smithville High and Park University from making music and reaching out to listeners. In fact, she just released a single titled “Poor Angel,” a lush ballad showcasing her intimate, emotional range.

“It’s about that guardian angel — whatever that may be to you. It could be a person, a thing, the universe, God, whatever,” she says. “It’s that guardian on your shoulder that every time you get so low where you don’t think anything is going to get better, something always pulls you out of that darkness.”

Three years ago, Joy enjoyed a strong run as a contestant on NBC’s “The Voice,” earning raves from judge Blake Shelton and audiences alike. While she didn’t win, she elevated her already budding career. One of the ensuing decisions was buying a bus and “going all in” toward a life of touring.

“We had a house in Murfreesboro for two years and were paying out the wazoo for it,” she says. “And we were never, ever there because my husband and I are always on tour. So we got a house on wheels instead.”

Joy and husband Bryan Lankford — who drives the vehicle, books her shows and “pretty much acts as my manager” — christened the bus Lucille. A nod to B.B. King’s famous guitar, perhaps?

“There are a lot of things named Lucille that everybody thinks it’s named after,” Joy replies. “But it’s actually from an episode of ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ where the uncle goes and whoops everyone’s butt at the pool hall. He’s faking like he’s not good at pool so he can win all this money, and then he says, ‘Geoffrey, break out Lucille’ — which is his custom pool stick.”

‘Making the most of it’

She’d be happy to have a pool table on the bus. But no such luck. Instead, Joy occupies herself with the obligations of technology. She says, “My eyes are bleeding” from being on the computer so much in an effort to keep her career moving forward. Along with releasing “Poor Angel,” she’s relentlessly posting on social media and redesigning her website, striving to connect however possible with audiences online.

“I feel like we’re taking all the right steps. Even despite this quarantine, we’re still able to do our live stream and keep the fan base engaged. We put out new music and make videos and do photo shoots,” she says. “For it being not the best situation, we’re definitely making the most of it.”

With her powerhouse vocals and relentless enthusiasm, Joy proves herself capable of handling most any fan request when doing Facebook Live shows, from Michael Jackson to Evanescence. You can watch every Monday at 7 p.m. on her Facebook page.

“I hear a lot of references,” she says of how people describe her voice. “But I think I sound like if Carrie Underwood and Pat Benatar got into a bar fight, and then Patsy Cline came in and broke it up.”

On Season 12 of “The Voice,” Joy primarily stayed within the country lane, performing songs by LeAnn Rimes, Reba McEntire and Chris Stapleton. Judge Shelton said of her fourth and final performance on the show, “It’s hard for me to imagine you not moving forward.” However, viewers at home voted otherwise.

“Almost every article that’s written about me says I got my start on ‘The Voice.’ But I’ve been in the music industry professionally since I was 10 years old. My only job I’ve ever had is music,” she says.

“But ‘The Voice’ definitely helped with my brand and how the industry sees me as an artist. I have no bad things to say about the whole experience — except for the way it ended.”

As for contact since then with Shelton or any of the other stars of the show … there hasn’t been any.

“That’s another misconception: You don’t hear much from them after the show ends,” the 30-year-old artist says. “No emails or tweets, either.”

In addition to Joy’s television appearances, she’s shared the stage with country mainstays Keith Urban, Maren Morris, Carly Pearce and Montgomery Gentry. In her hometown, she’s delivered the national anthem at Chiefs and Royals games, and performed at KC’s iconic Plaza lighting ceremony three years in a row.

‘Telling your truth’

She doesn’t want to be pigeonholed. “To me, it’s about storytelling and truth-telling,” she says. “I don’t feel like country is as much about one particular sound anymore. I mean, don’t go all EDM on it, but if you’re telling your truth — and telling your story and keeping it simple so the listener can feel connected to it — that’s the basis of country music.”

Her bandmates agree.

“As a writer, she’s got a great sense of melody and hook. … She’s also able to paint great pictures, lyrically. The best country songs tell great stories, and she tells great stories with her songs,” says bassist Chris Thompson.

Thompson, guitarist Zach Hord and drummer Go-Go Ray make up the KC-based band (nicknamed the “Joy Boys”) that tours with the singer.

He adds, “As a performer, she’s just a firecracker. So much fun to watch. So much fun to interact and goof around with her onstage. She brings an energy unlike anyone I’ve played with.”

Joy returns to the Kansas City area often, both to perform and see her family (most of whom still live in Smithville). But locals will have to be content experiencing her via phones and computers until “Lucille” is free to hit the road again.

“We did end up getting the biggest bus that they make,” she confides. “It’s 44 feet long, has two bathrooms and can sleep six people. It’s rather cozy these days, but it’s nice. It’s still better than a one-bedroom New York apartment.”

Jon Niccum is a filmmaker, freelance writer and author of “The Worst Gig: From Psycho Fans to Stage Riots, Famous Musicians Tell All.”