LIHU‘E — From out of the blue, a boba drink in hand, Kimberly Hope appeared at the Kukui Grove Center Friday afternoon.
“Melissa McFerrin-Warrack, the Kukui Grove special events coordinator, has been wanting me to perform because I just released my debut album,” Hope said while waiting on mom to get her beverage. “But there’s the COVID-19 pandemic, and I’ve been busy.”
Hope said the journey to releasing “Kimberly Hope” has taken seven years from the time she first got the spark while playing on street corners at Kaua‘i nighttime art walks. She was still a student at Island School with a dream of pursuing Music Therapy.
“Fans would always ask her, ‘Do you have a CD?’” her mother who has always been a loyal supporter of Hope said. “She didn’t know anything about recording. And then, the next question fans asked, ‘Do you have anything original?’ That was a lot of learning.”
Starting to play the violin at 10 years old, Hope today is an accomplished and professional violinist, music teacher, and composer states her kimberlyhopemusic.com website.
The website further states that Hope believes that music is a universal language that can help heal and bring people together. Her long-term goal is to be a full-time traveling musician/teacher and make as many people happy through music as possible.
“Recovery,” one of a dozen original tracks on the debut album, is a demonstration of the power of healing.
“My inspiration comes from things I go through in life,” Hope said. “My grandmother fell before this COVID-19 pandemic hit us. She broke her back and was in great pain. Her recovery came during the pandemic, and ‘Recovery’ just happened. It helped her heal.”
“Recovery” also happens to be her mother’s favorite piece.
“Kimberly Hope was not always ‘Hope,’” her mother said. “Before she was born, we settled on ‘Kimberly Nicole’ as her name. One day, we had a big fight at home, and I changed her name to ‘Hope.’ That’s who she is today, and her piece ‘Recovery’ is always so uplifting and full of life whenever I listen to it.”
Hope says that with the debut of the album, there are many more things that need to be learned, like how do you ship CDs to fans in England and other parts of the world.
“For years, I ended my shows with ‘Shine,’ but I always wanted to write a song that was a little more upbeat to close out my performances,” Hope said. “I hope this song ‘Before You Go,’ leaves you feeling happy and joyful.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
