We had the good fortune of connecting with Hurricane Holly Longmore and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Hurricane Holly, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
I think this question is one of the hardest and most profound questions to ask ourselves! I’ll first say “giving up” is a bit too shaming of a sentiment for me! If I choose a different path one day I hope to think of it as striving for something new and different opposed to failing or giving up. However I have had many times in my life where I lost faith in myself and my passion for performing. In 2020 I especially didn’t know if it was ok for me to pursue something that felt in that moment maybe frivolous or privileged. I looked into going back to school and trying to find something more concrete to give back to the world to help us out if this hard and traumatizing time. But as we came out of that year and I started going to open mics and singing for people again I had so many incredible and deeply moving experiences where I saw the true healing power of music and poetry. My words were helping take the grey cloud off of peoples hearts and I saw I had been doing that all along with my silly singing videos. I think I will know when it is time to move on from this venture when I no longer love what I do. When I can no longer see first hand the good it’s doing for the people in the room with me. When the songs stop coming and some new fire burns in my soul. But for now I know to my core this is my calling and my purpose in life.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
This is such a weird question to answer about myself but I’m working on getting over the uncomfortable feeling of promoting oneself! Who knows how or why but songwriting is in my soul. I have always been a person who thinks and behaves outside social norms but not in a way that separates me, more in a “look over here, they told us not to jumó this fence but there is a bunch of beautiful fun things over here” come with me into freedom of self and love of others. I always pulled my friends out of religious brain washing and my family out of political single mindedness. My songs make you think about things differently and the musical theater part of me turnes it from lecturing into storytelling lol! Sometimes it’s still a bit lectury! I also like to make up words:)):):): my music is raw and honest, harsh and inviting, feminine and masculine energy. Who knows, but when I sing to people of any type, they seem to be able to find some part of what I’m saying relatable or beautiful.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would first find an open mic and start from there! Ophelia’s, mercury cafe, RMU in Breck! There are always such characters and interesting people there and if you start talking to anyone you will find a next fun thing to do! When I travel I love to just show up to anything anyone tells me about and see what happens and then say yes to the next thing! And when people come to visit I tend to put myself in tourist mode with them rather than take them to my favorite places.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family! I am more lucky than anyone deserves to be with a family that has always loved and supported this thing in me. They are my best friends and favorite people. My father gave me such confidence and humor, my mother kindness and emotion, my sister an undying resolve to get shit done and experience life to the fullest. And I have extra siblings and extra parents who continue to support me in unbelievable ways. I love community and built and become a part of a vast and beautiful one that I could not do this without!
Website: Www.hurricaneholly.com
Instagram: @Hurricanehollymusic
Image Credits
Benjamin Wheelwright Karma Jenkins