“The Voice” winner Cassadee Pope lands a record deal . . . in Nashville

Cassadee Pope, the recent winner of season three of NBC’s “The Voice,” has signed a record deal with country label Republic Nashville. It’s a somewhat surprising choice for pop/rock singer Pope, who expressed no particular affinity for country on the show until her coach, Blake Shelton, coaxed her into performing a handful of country songs. But Republic also has a pop division, based in New York, so the label choice should give Pope the opportunity to have her songs worked for airplay to multiple radio formats.

The head of Pope’s new label, Scott Borchetta, explains, “Each week [on the show] Cassadee continued to knock down big country songs by Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban and Faith Hill, and after she won we were thrilled to find out that Cassadee was on the same page with us and wanted to come to Nashville.”

The 23-year-old singer/songwriter, who formerly fronted the pop/rock band Hey Monday, won “The Voice” in December, having emerged as a frontrunner early in the season. She’s already signed a deal with powerhouse artist manager Irving Azoff and his associate, Tina Kennedy.

Her cover of Miranda Lambert’s “Over You” (co-written by Shelton) landed Pope the No. 1 spot on the iTunes All Genre Chart last year. Pope’s best-of album, “The Voice: The Complete Season 3 Collection,” also hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart less than a week after her victory. In addition to “Over You,” it includes Pope’s covers of Urban’s “Stupid Boy” and Hill’s “Cry,” as well as nine non-county songs.

“I am so excited to be joining the very talented Republic Nashville family,” says Pope in a press release. “I am so passionate about my music and I couldn’t be more excited to have this amazing team to back me as I embark on this next chapter in my career.”

Republic is also home to The Band Perry, Eli Young Band, Florida Georgia Line, Greg Bates and former “The Voice” finalist (and fellow Shelton protégée) RaeLynn. The label also had recently been home to Martina McBride.