Rhode Island based singer-songwriter Christina Holmes is a wonderful person and an extremely talented musician. One of those people that can immediately brighten your day with their warm personality and cheerful disposition. Her latest album The Beautiful Struggle is her most personal to date, an album intended to inspire listeners through the toughest of times. We loved the album and have chosen her as our very first Spotify Playlist Guest Curator. I recently had the opportunity to have a wonderful chat with Christina while she was on her way to the Pyro Art & Music Festival in Warren Ohio. I asked her if she could comment on her most recent release The Beautiful Struggle and talk a little bit about what the album is about. She also gives us some insight into why she has chosen each song on her playlist. Enjoy!
“The whole main purpose of my album was to try to find the good in the bad and the bad in the good. Because at the end of the day our whole entire lives are the beautiful struggle. Those moments when we are fighting such dark demons but sometimes we find a silver lining and see the good things in it. I feel like even when you do go through terrible things, life itself is a beautiful thing. The album is just stories from my life and things that I have been through. Songs that I have written in very hard times that actually brought out good sides of things. It’s a record for everybody to know that at the end of the day, even when you feel like you can’t keep going, you CAN still keep walking and still keep living your life getting to those better times. I feel like my whole life has been a beautiful struggle. I have been through a lot of different things and lost a lot of people I love. I have been through things like heartbreak but still ended up marrying the person I was meant to be with. I lost my dad which was hard and is still hard to deal with but I just keep moving forward. One of the most important songs on the album is a song called “Addictions”, which a lot of people can make generalizations about. However, every single walk of life goes through addiction whether they hide it or they show it. It happens in every walk of life and once everyone begins to talk about it more, I feel like there won’t be such an issue with it so we can start to heal those struggling with it. Those people who might not fit the typical mold of an addict.”
Indigo – Trevor Hall
I ended up dropping out of college to pursue music and although my parents were supportive of my choice, my dad really wanted me to go to college because he couldn’t afford to go himself. He wanted me to graduate and do all these things so it took him a while to come see me perform. While I was on tour with Trevor Hall, he was finally able to attend a show after years of me performing. It would be the only show he was able to see out of my entire career. You see, two years before that my dad was getting really sick and he wanted to come to some shows but wasn’t able to. So the day of that show, he ended up coming, he said something told him he had to make it. He watched my set and listened to the songs and after he came up to me and said that he was so proud of me, was glad I didn’t listen to him and was sorry that he gave me such a hard time over the years. The song “Indigo” was so prominent during that tour because the premise of that song is you aren’t supposed to be fooled by your own mind. Everyone will convince themselves that they are terrible at something at some point. That entire tour, I listened to that song and at the end of the day no matter how intimidated I was with opening up for Trevor and playing for all these people, I just kept telling myself I shouldn’t be fooled by my own mind. My dad ended up passing away a month after that tour but that song is one I continue to listen to every week if not every day. Just to remind myself to not listen to that bad voice in my head and to only feed that good voice. It’s a very powerful song.
Follow The Sun – Xavier Rudd
I also got to tour with him and my wife and I had our first dance to this song at our wedding. It’s just a really special song to me because it’s a song that we had fallen in love with together while I was on tour with him. It’s a song that always makes us think of each other.
Fast Car – Tracy Chapman
I don’t think there could be any singer/songwriter that doesn’t say that song inspires them in some way. I just love that no matter how she is performing it, acoustically or with a band, she always puts the same amount of heart and soul in the performance. You can feel her personality come through in her music and that is also something I try do with my own.
High Tide or Low Tide – Bob Marley
This is just a phenomenal song and Bob Marley has always been a big inspiration to me, ever since I was introduce to him by my cousin when I was 6 years old.
Stop This Train – John Mayer
There is just something about this song! It’s another phenomenal song and I always sing along to this song and one day I will sing this song with John Mayer! I don’t know when but it will happen…It will happen for sure haha!
Connection – Cas Haley
Cas is one of my good friends and we have known each other for almost 10 years now. He just has a phenomenal voice and this song resonates with me. It’s about having a connection between people no matter who you are or where you are from or what color you are. There is always that connection through the same light.
Tus Pies – Nahko and Medicine for the People
This was the song that my wife and I actually walked down the aisle to at our wedding. This song means a whole lot to us and Nahko is just an awesome dude and I love him so much.
Love I – The Green / New Love – Josh Heinrichs
Also both awesome love songs! I feel like they are older songs and not a lot of people might know what they are but they are really really good songs.
Better Off Running – Cris Cab
I love this song because there is a line in the song that says “Don’t let it pass you bye….Live your life…Enjoy the ride”. When I first heard that lyric it just got inside my head and whenever you are just “having a day” it’s a good one to listen to for getting out of that mindset.
Be sure to check out Christina on one of her remaining summer festival Tour Dates below:
Project Earth Festival – June 22 – Clarks Grove, MN
Salmonfest- August 2- Ninilchik, AK
Shangri-La Festival- August 31- Clarks Grove, MN
Vibe High Festival – September 6th- Brodhead WI
For more on Christina or to pick up a copy of The Beautiful Struggle check out:
