Growing up, Hope lived in constant fear of being taken away from her family if word ever got out about her abusive home life.  Yet, she was suffocating in the reality that she would never have a life worth living if she didn’t someday leave.  So, at 15, she got on a Greyhound bus that led her 700 miles away to an older sister in South Carolina where she finally “began to see a life outside of that hell.”  Safety, however, came at a cost.  “I felt so much guilt for leaving my younger siblings and my mom,” she says.  “It’s something that still haunts me.”  Hope’s interest in music was nurtured at an early age, but only for a short time.  “My dad and granddad brought home a 100-year-old upright piano when I was four. I played it for hours every single day for three years before we were forced to move because we couldn't afford the rent.  When my dad was moving the piano it collapsed in transit. They never found another free one and free was all we could afford.”  Growing up sheltered from secular music, Hope learned to sing in church choirs; while secretly soaking in artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston.  She quickly learned how to craft a tune out of her difficult upbringing by covertly writing songs underneath her bed; for fear that her mother would hear them.  Unable to sing those songs, her passion stayed locked deep inside until leaving home.  Once Hope was away from her oppressive and abusive home life, she was able to deepen the desire to express herself through song.  It was after leaving home that she first heard the iconic voice of the woman who quickly became her musical idol – Billie Holiday. “I instantly loved Billie,” Hope states.  “I felt a kinship, a deep knowing from the moment I heard her voice.”  More information on her website