You know her from her days in the pop group, Eden’s Crush, but today Maile Misajon is all about singing and writing her own music in the country music capital of the world, Nashville, TN. There’s so much more to the Maile that you saw in the early 00s, so find out what she has been up to since her pop days and what’s in store for this year.

Can you bring us up to speed of what you have been up to since the end of Eden’s Crush?
The last 3 years I’ve been living in Nashville, TN. I moved here from LA to start working on my songwriting. I’ve been making a record that I’m hoping to release in the Spring. It is pretty much country pop and I’ve been writing with all of the Nashville songwriters and a few writers from LA and NY.

Do you keep in contact with any of the Eden’s Crush girls?
I’ve kept in touch with Ivette Sosa. She’s a really good friend of mine. I’ve bumped into a couple of the girls here and there but Ivette is my closest friend.

So what is your favorite song that Eden’s Crush recorded?
I would say “Love This Way” was my favorite song that we recorded because of the lyrics.

Popstars was an incredibly popular reality show…what reality shows do you watch?
Oh gosh. I don’t watch a lot of reality shows but I do occasionally watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition, American Idol, and a few food shows.

Your solo music is very different from Eden’s Crush. Have you always been into country music and acoustic performing?
Yeah, pretty much actually…I grew up singing a lot of country and southern rock with my dad who was in a cover band for many years, so I always had those influences. During my Eden’s Crush run, I was really inspired by Faith Hill, Martina McBride, and Shania Twain. Their music inspired me more than any other at the time. Most importantly, Shania writes her own songs and I had never written before. I didn’t write on the Eden’s Crush album so that was a big reason why I was drawn to country music and to Nashville.

Now what would you say are the pros and cons of being musically inspired in LA and in Nashville?
In LA, I didn’t have a lot of musical inspiration except for my dad. I played a lot of live shows with him post Eden’s Crush and it gave me a good kick start to wanting to perform live again with a full band since with Eden’s Crush we sang to tracks. At the time, there wasn’t a huge acceptable acoustic environment in LA…if there was, I didn’t know that at the time. Nashville is primarily based on songwriting. So every venue in Nashville has a songwriting showcase. So you learn a lot more about your songwriting in Nashville. The performances are usually acoustic so you either own a guitar or have a guitar player.

So it’s not necessarily only country music if you are making music in Nashville?
Oh no, not at all. In fact the music that I am working on now has country songwriting but a pop sensibility. The artists I draw from now include Stevie Nicks, Norah Jones, and Colbie Caillat. Though the primary focus is country, Nashville is very open to listening to all kinds of music.

Do you have a favorite venue to perform at in Nashville?
I really love The Basement. It’s a very small, intimate venue.

What were some of your favorite moments of 2009 and what can we expect from you in 2010?
In 2009, I recorded some great songs that are mine for this upcoming record. I played a showcase in Nashville that really reminded me how much I miss performing and performing my own material at that. In 2010 I will be playing a lot more shows not just in Nashville but across the U.S. and the EP should be out late Spring or early Summer. I don’t have a title for the EP yet.

You traveled a lot with Eden’s Crush, where was your favorite place to visit and where do you look forward to going to this year?
I enjoyed so many different cities that we visited! We did go over to Guam and the fans were unbelievable. We did a show for about 10,000 fans and they were the most excited fans I’ve seen at any of our shows. I’m looking forward to going back to NY, Chicago, and California.

Do you enjoy songwriting by yourself or co-writing more?
I like writing by myself but I prefer co-writing because the fluidity of a song expands when you are with one or more writers in the room. It is really helpful to have another writer in the room and it is also fun since I write with a lot of my friends.

Of your original songs featured on your myspace, which was the most challenging to write?
“Mile In My Shoes” was a tough song to write because lyrically I was drawing from a difficult time in my life. It wasn’t hard coming up with the material because I had plenty to say (laughs) but it was difficult to emotionally go to that place.

So what do you do about writer’s block?
If I’m in the middle of a writing session, sometimes we will take a lunch break or we’ll end early and get back to it the next day where our minds are fresh.

How many instruments do you play and what instruments are you interested in learning?
I play guitar and I am interested in taking up the piano. I just got a ukulele for my birthday from my folks so I just started playing it. Expect to hear some of that on my record for sure.

Lastly, what was the first song you learned how to play on guitar?
“You’re Still The One” by Shania Twain.

For more Maile Misajon, go here.