Charlene Tilton's daughter Cherish Lee on paving her own way in country music

Cherish Lee is the daughter of Johnny Lee and Charlene Tilton. (Brad Newman)

Cherish Lee may be the daughter of world-famous honky tonk singer Johnny Lee and "Dallas" beauty Charlene Tilton, but the aspiring country singer still struggled to break into show business.

The 35-year-old described in the "Children of Song" podcast the difficulties of starting off in Nashville and getting "screwed over" twice.

"People have literally tried to take me out," Lee said adding that she tried other career paths but they never worked out.

"I dabbled in acting; I tried bartending; I'm a terrible waitress so I thought I best stick to singing and songwriting," she said with a laugh.

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A promotional still from the series "Dallas" shows Charlene Tilton (as Lucy Ewing) as she leans across the arm of a chair, September 1978. (CBS via Getty)

When she landed her first record deal, Lee thought it was finally her turn. But she soon found herself being "bullied into" a "bad contract."

"The first [record deal] was being bullied into signing this crazy, I think it was a seven-year contract," she recalled.

Opportunity No. 2 came along and Lee soon found out she wasn't in any better of a place than she was with her first record deal.

"It was heartbreaking when it happened for the second time however, I did get the free and clear from that [contract] when I was nine months pregnant and that's basically how this [new] album came to be," she told the podcast. "Because I wasn't going to let anything else get stolen from me."

She added, "When I had that familiar taste of being screwed over a second time...I was like, 'Enough, I'm done.' I'm putting my foot down and I succeeded."

Listen to Cherish Lee's entire Children of Song episode here. You can download or stream the podcast from the Children of Song homepage or become a subscriber on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Google Play or Stitcher.