Hope was born in Box, a town near Bath in the Cotswolds in the United Kingdom.
Her Kiwi dad moved to England after winning a scholarship to study at The Slade Art School at University College London, where he met her mother.
Raised in an artistic household, Hope started piano lessons at a young age. Classical piano was followed by guitar and by her 20s she was writing songs, often imitating artists she admired.
But it wasn’t until much later that she found the freedom to musically express herself the way she wanted to.
The couple moved to New Zealand in 2004 with their two daughters and lived on the Kāpiti Coast.
In 2019 they moved to Whanganui, where Hope was able to devote herself to music fulltime.
“When you are trying to fit it around work it’s not the same. Now I have the time to really focus on my music,” she says.
The Love Train album offers live recorded performances of Hope playing piano and keyboards and Higginson on electric guitar and violin.
The collection of original songs – inspired by themes of love, connection and resilience – was captured and nurtured by sound engineer Malcolm Ibell.
The music reflects Hope’s response to things happening in the world, often things that upset her.
“I try to write about humanity from a personal perspective so that when people hear the songs, they can reflect upon themselves,” she says.
Her personal music preference is for women artists. She loves Nina Simone and Patti Smith, as well as Annie Lennox and Kate Bush.
“Addie and I listen to a lot of different music. I grew up with Ella Fitzgerald and our tastes have changed with the times.”
American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish is another favourite while, closer to home, she lists Aldous Harding and Tiny Ruins as artists she admires.
Hope says audiences can expect a variety of music at the Eastwoodhill event.
“The song are all quite different. They are varied in rhythms and Adie adds a lot of interest to them.
“Some are quite poetic. There’s some you can just listen to and think about and others that you might want to leap up and dance to. There’s a good mix of upbeat and downbeat, and a bit of chatting in between.”
She guarantees the performance will be “musically interesting”.
The duo are supported by NZ Arts on Tour, which takes care of logistics and covers costs, including paying the artists.
Heti & Hope
7pm, Friday, March 21
Eastwoodhill Arboretum
Tickets at trybooking.com
