Raised on a farm in the small town of Quincy, Washington,
Holly Starr is not afraid of hard work. In fact, the farm girl in Starr much prefers the dirt and grime to the glamour of the spotlight. That’s why she’s still confounded as to how she arrived at this place in life, releasing her second full-length record,
Tapestry; working with one of the industry’s most sought-after producers, this year’s Dove Award-winning producer Rusty Varenkamp (Tenth Avenue North, Meredith Andrews); and performing on countless stages across the country, including Creation Festival, Lifest and an opening spot for LeAnn Rimes. It’s all Starr can do not to pinch herself.
NRT's Bill Lurwick recently spoke with Holly about scarves, songs and the situations God used in Holly's life to strengthen her and others.
Holly, you like to wear the scarves, I’ve noticed.
I do.
That’s kind of unique. I see that in a lot of publicity shots and stuff. You’ve got the scarf going on there!
Thank you. There is story behind that, so I’ll only share that if you’re interested.
Yeah. Tell me what’s up.
Well, when I was in Israel in February I found my grandma's family. They all moved to Israel after she moved to the U.S. So, it’s been 60 years since she’s seen any of them, but we knew that they were there in Israel, so we looked them up and found them. I had the opportunity to get my grandma on Skype with them and it was unreal. I ended up having a conversation with her nieces and they were saying, “My dear, you know you’re Jewish right?” I kind of had this idea that we might be Jewish because we have people like come up to my mom and randomly ask her, “Are you Jewish?” So, we had like these little pieces, but we never really knew for sure and whenever we would ask my grandma, she didn’t want to talk about it. She’s completely hid her past from everybody.
So, you’re 19 now and you weren’t raised as a Jewish young lady.
No, not at all. So, when I was in Israel, a lot of the women wear scarves and stuff and I just really loved that, and it’s kind of a cultural thing. It’s kind of a remembrance for me to pray for my family and for Israel as well. I have a huge heart for Israel now.
Let’s talk about some of the songs on Tapestry. First of all, tell us about “Holding On To You.”
That song was written at a time in my life when I was constantly being challenged with big life decisions, music business questions, and l would worry about it and be stressed out like, “God, what in the world is going on here?” and I just felt like God came to me one night and reminded me straight up, “You’ve got to hold onto me. You’ve got to hold onto my word regardless of what’s going on. You might not know or have the discernment or wisdom to know right now what you’re supposed to do, but you hold onto me, myself, my name, my word then you’ll be fine no matter what’s going on.”
Talk about the title of the project, Tapestry. Define tapestry for us.
When I saw the actual definition of it in the dictionary, it kind of knocked me over because it talks about how a vertical and a horizontal thread comes together to create a pictorial design. So to me, our life in relation to Christ is very much horizontal and vertical--our life being horizontal and His being vertical. And in the process of coming together, it creates a picture. So, I love it. That's why I named it Tapestry.
What's the story behind the song “Take Me As I Am”?
I was sitting in my garage at home at like midnight on night, and everybody in my family was asleep and it just felt like God was showing me so clearly a picture of His grace for us. There’s nothing that I can do that’s going to set me apart from His love, and He’s just going to purify my life. He’s going to continue to work in me, to transform me into the image of Christ regardless of everything I feel like is taking me away from that because I’m His child. He’s going to be changing my life and whatever and at the same time sin is crucified because of Christ. So, there’s nothing to struggle with. It’s just this beautiful picture. It’s incredible.
Do you have a favorite song from the project?
Yes. I really, really love the song “I’ll Watch You Dance.” Again, when I wrote this, I was struggling with these decisions that God was giving me. I was just really, really broken, like God, I don’t feel good enough. I don’t feel ready. I don’t feel like I have the wisdom. I don’t know why I’m even here. Should I even be doing this anymore?
He reminded me, “Holly, if you really believe in me the way you tell people, then you’ll know that I will provide for you. You’ll know that I’m with you.” He just gave me this beautiful image of people coming to my front door of the house and knocking, and they have this big huge surprise planned for me. I love surprises, so that works out good. They won't tell me what this big huge surprise is and I get frustrated.
So, in my stubbornness I just closed the door in their face and I go back to my daily in my life in my house or whatever I’m doing. I felt like God was showing me that’s what I do in my life sometimes. It’s like I’m not willing to wait or to trust Him long enough to find out--in His timing--the most incredible plan that He has for me. So, “I’ll Watch You Dance” is just some words that I felt like He was saying to me: “Hold out your hands. Close your eyes. Trust me this time. I’ve got something in mind. Don’t try to guess or you’ll miss it all together. The timing is more important than what it is and I’ll watch you dance when you see the plans that I have for us. I love you.” It’s so straight up. I felt like God was really challenging me again to trust him.
Holly Starr. Your debut is called Tapestry and I can’t wait for it to get it out to everyone, to the masses. Appreciate you spending time with us at New Release Tuesday. Thank you Holly.
Thank you so much.
