Holly Starr is only 19, but she is already an established singer-songwriter and has performed at the largest festivals across the nation and tours around the world. She has even shared the stage with country singer LeAnn Rimes. Starr returns with her sophomore release, Tapestry, which releases today. When did you become a Christian?
Holly Starr: I went to a Christian school growing up, and I went to church my whole life. But about two years ago, God really got my heart. It was a process; I knew all the stuff and I went to church and I believed it all and I was passionate about it. But two years ago was when I felt like He was really something that was important to me and not just something that I believed in. I wanted to talk about it and wanted to share what I had been learning.
What do you hope to share through music?
Starr: It would definitely have to be to share the love and grace of Christ. God has been teaching me so much about how He doesn't really need a bunch of stuff from me. He just needs me to come to Him the way that I am, and be who I am, be real, and know that He loves me, and accept the love that He has for me. My message to listeners is that they get a glimpse of the grace that Christ has given me and I'm learning about, and the love that never fails in those situations when we don't know what's going on. His love completes all that. You don't have to freak out if things are going wrong because He knows everything.
How would you describe your music?
Starr: I like to tell everybody that all the songs I write are based on my life experiences, the ups and the downs. It's the real hard struggles that I've gone through, the real good times I'm going through, the times I'm frustrated at God, and the times that I'm so excited about God. I try to keep it very real, lyrically. Musically I would say it's pop rock.
Describe some of the themes you sing about on your new album.
Starr: The grace and love of Christ that He's been teaching me is definitely a main point. My first record called Embrace was more of a relational record, with songs about people I had encountered and prayers I had for them. This record, Tapestry, is definitely more about my intimate relationship with Christ. It's more a worship record but it's not a worship record.
You wrote all the songs on this album, so they're all personal. But is there one that's particularly meaningful?
Starr: "I Love You Anyway" is the third song I ever wrote, and it's on my first record as well. It just means a lot to me because I was going through a time in my life when a friend of mine ended up placing a death threat on my life. It was really hard. I didn't know what was going on. It was really confusing. And so I was like: "God, what in the world? How could somebody I love so much hurt me so bad, so fast?" I just went through this time of confusion, and my community was pressuring me to get a restraining order on my friend. It was really hard.
But in the middle of all that, instead of hate and anger that I should have had toward her, there was a love for her that was overwhelming my spirit and my life. I can definitely tell you today that it wasn't my love. It was Christ's love through me. And so that was really powerful to me, I didn't understand it at all. I wrote this song about this instance in my life of saying: "I will love you anyway. No matter what you've done to me, I'm going to choose to love you anyway."
I wasn't trying to make a double meaning of the song. God showed me a year after I wrote it that He had me write this song to teach me about His love for us. That's a theme in the record that His love is unconditional, and He loves us anyway. Christ died thousands of years before I was even born to remove sin from my life. I don't need to live in guilt or shame but to ask for forgiveness and live in the life He's given me. "I Love You Anyway" talks about the love I had for my friend, but also it's reflecting on the love Christ has for us.
Is there anything else you want people to know about you?
Starr: I am really big on keeping in touch with people. If they would like to get to know me better, I'm online on everything. I really believe that the body of Christ is meant to live life together, and so when we make relationship I think it's good to keep it. (You can find Holly on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.)
Visit hollystarrmusic.com to purchase Tapestry.
