'They Are Great Mentors': Caroline Jones On Performing With The Eagles & Jimmy Buffett

(CBS Local)-- Caroline Jones grew up in Connecticut, went to college at NYU, and is now one of the biggest names in country music.

The singer-songwriter is touring with the Zach Brown Band and performed in stadiums around the country last year with Jimmy Buffett and The Eagles. Jones releases a new EP in October called "Chasin' Me," but she has been preparing for this moment her whole life.

"I was a very serious child and I went to a performing arts school," said Jones in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "When I was 20, I made a decision to start writing and producing my own records. At the time, I was on a more commercial Nashville track and I really wanted to discover my own voice as a producer and songwriter that wasn't super commercial. I really wanted to develop myself as an artist. I started making records in New York and I ended up touring around schools for a few years. I ended up performing to almost 200,000 students and I developed my own sound that way."

While Jones put in the time to build her career, she's also had the good fortune of support from some of the biggest names in the music world.

"The first person was Zach Brown, who was the first person to take me on tour and offer me a platform in an opening slot," said Jones. "I learned so much and that was my first major tour in a big venue. You learn what leadership is and how to capture a crowd that's walking in as you're playing. Jimmy Buffett was the next person to take me on tour and take me under his wing and offer me a distribution deal with his label. He introduced me to Kenny Chesney and brought me on tour with The Eagles, which was a bucketlist [moment]. They are great mentors who are artists and not people in suits or business people."

Jones has been working on her new EP for the last two years and is excited for fans to check out new music and old tunes.

"I'm super proud of it, it's the next step for me as an artist," said Jones. "It's the next evolution of my sound. It has a bunch of new songs and a bunch of songs we've been playing live for a year. It has a collaboration with Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett. Chasin' Me is about the old fashioned romantic values that I still really believe in. I'm kind of a sucker for it. I'm a hopeless romantic."

"Chasin Me" drops October 11.