SoulTrain.com Sound Check: Hope's Eyes to the sky

Singer/songwriter Hope has a heart filled with "Love, Love, Love" – current hit single from her self-titled Atlantic Records debut. When speaking with her it becomes immediately apparent she is beaming to share her heart with others. The Merriam-Webster definition of "hope" is to cherish a desire with anticipation, but does she feel her career has thus far lived to her name? "Yeah," says Hope, enthusiastically. "My whole life I've been writing music. Somehow the writing process has led to something hopeful, painting a silver lining on a lot of the ends of the songs. I have just a natural hopeful outlook on music and life. Even though as an artist it's easy for us to write a sad song, I try to find ways to put hopeful things at the end of them."

The optimism of the guitar-wielding New York native glows as bright as the California sun, where she currently resides. If the music-loving world continues to embrace Hope, her shine will hopefully see no end.

Soul Train: Okay Hope, your name also means a belief in a positive outcome. Is there a situation in the world you're hopeful will improve?

Hope: Absolutely! I hope the world we live in will get better, and that people learn to be family and help each other. Uplift each and support each other, because there's a lot of competition in the world. I'm hopeful the world will be a better place, better than it already is. I think it's awesome! A lot of people think right now things are really down, and it doesn't look too bright. But I believe it's your outlook, and I hope that gets better and better every day.

Soul Train: Tell us about an instance in your life where your own outlook made you want to stop what you were doing and write about it immediately.

Hope: I was performing on Hollywood Blvd. with my guitar, they call it busking; I was just on the street singing and playing my guitar. A friend of my mine from Australia that I had worked with came over and said to me, "You know, nothing is going to last forever." I was out there singing, and I wanted my music to be heard by so many people. I thought about what he said and realized he was so right. So I started writing a song called "The Rain Don't Last". The words are: The rain don't last forever, the storm will always blow; but if the sun don't shine forever, you gotta let it go.

Read the full interview at SoulTrain.com