We were lucky to catch up with Hillary Capps recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hillary , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I’m not sure if this is the most meaningful project I’ve ever worked on (I’m grateful to have had many!), but it’s definitely the most meaningful one in this current phase of my life: my latest project, “She” – a new single and a live video created for the 2025 Tiny Desk Contest.
One of my goals for 2025 was to connect more deeply with like-minded women and tap into a sense of community. The world we live in can feel so isolating sometimes, and as an introvert, I know I don’t always make it easier for myself! For this project, I collaborated with my producer and friend Tiger Darrow – who also produced my last EP and a prior single – and we pulled together an incredible group of female musicians for both the live video and the recorded version of the song.
The live version is a stripped-down take: six of us gathered in a room with a desk, just playing together. Some of the women I knew, and some I’d never met before. I loved connecting with everyone and watching each person’s unique talent and personality shine in the room.
I used to be very product-oriented, but over the years, I’ve learned (well, I continue to learn) how to lean into the process and be present in it. My Dad always says, “It’s got to be the going, not the getting there, that’s good” – a lyric from the Harry Chapin song “Greyhound.” The making and creating is the best part. Taking what starts as a tiny melody in a voice memo and watching it come to life with other humans – that’s magic I’ll never get over. Especially in today’s political climate, I’m personally finding it more important than ever to come together in solidarity with other women. That’s exactly what we did here, and I’m very proud of what we created.
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“She” single: https://ffm.to/lyrbwmp
“She” live video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fp4Xk4rdqA
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m a singer/songwriter and a menstrual health coach. One (music) led to the other (menstrual health), and now I’m learning to intertwine the two worlds.
At my core, I’m a singer. I’ve been singing since I was a little girl – forming girl bands in middle school and diving into musical theatre in high school. My dad is a jazz guitarist (he teaches guitar and music technology at UVM), and I started performing professionally with his jazz band at weddings and events around Vermont (where we’re from) when I was about 16. It’s how I learned the ropes, earned my first creative paychecks, and built up my book of jazz standard charts that I brought with me to New York.
I began songwriting and playing basic guitar at a young age, but this passion really took off in college (I went to The New School). After a stint in a rock band (where I met my husband!), I formed my first band of my own at 23. I started performing around NYC, building my stage presence, and writing, recording, and releasing original music. Alongside that, I worked in event production and the service industry, but music was always at the center. For a decade, I actively gigged in NYC, played festivals, opened for internationally touring artists, and recorded a full-length album with a small label.
Then COVID hit, and I wasn’t able to promote or tour with that album the way we had hoped. Like so many others, the pandemic upended my plans and shifted my trajectory.
Meanwhile, starting in 2018, I was undergoing a transformational health journey after coming off the birth control pill.
All the symptoms I had masked – like extreme period pain and acne – came roaring back, but this time I wanted to understand the root causes rather than just covering things up with the pill. Through research, books, podcasts, women’s health programs, and working with a naturopath, I figured things out. And in the process, I uncovered a whole world of knowledge that I was shocked I hadn’t known sooner.
At 29, I didn’t know you could only get pregnant about six days each month. I didn’t know period pain wasn’t normal. I could go on. I remember talking to a friend about how I was using Basal Body Temperature and Cervical Fluid to track my cycle and avoid pregnancy (successfully, by the way) and she was just as surprised and in awe.
It was around this time that it struck me: Wow. I wish ALL women knew this vital information. I felt such a strong pull to share what I’d learned.
So when COVID hit, I went back to school. I enrolled in the Integrative Women’s Health Institute and became certified as a Women’s Health Coach. Later, I completed a certification in Women’s Hormone Health through the Institute for Menstrual Health.
Since then, I’ve had the joy of working with Nicole Jardim – author of Fix Your Period – on her team (and I still do!). In 2023, I opened my own business, Period Concierge, where I offer 1:1 support and resources: periodconcierge.com
I love supporting women through their transition off hormonal birth control, offering natural solutions for period pain, easing PMS, and helping with many other cycle-related concerns. I truly believe every woman deserves to be body literate and to understand how to support her health and natural rhythms.
I also love supporting people through music. It’s the ultimate connector. Music is still the most essential part of who I am. It is my anchor.
Today, I continue to share songs and perform when the timing feels aligned. It’s a gentler approach than the hustle culture I embraced in my 20s – more integrated, more sustainable for this phase of life.
I have a Patreon page with a small but amazing community of patrons, where I share monthly cover songs, exclusives, and early access to new releases. My latest single, “She,” along with my 2024 four-song EP, from the quiet of the underworld, were both supported in part through Patreon.
There are so many ways music and menstrual health intersect and overlap, and that’s exactly what I’m excited to explore more deeply in 2025 and beyond.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Yes – my current mission is to explore and share the ways music and menstrual health intersect and inform one another. It might sound niche, but the connections are both scientific and intuitive.
For example, your throat and reproductive organs are linked via the vagus nerve – the longest nerve in the body, which plays a key role in regulating our sense of safety. Soothing the voice through singing, humming, or chanting can help relax the nervous system, which is essential for hormone balance and regular ovulation. Soften the throat, soften the womb.
Another fascinating connection: your vocal range actually shifts with your cycle. In the follicular phase (pre-ovulation), your voice tends to be a bit higher; in the luteal phase (post-ovulation), it’s slightly deeper. As a singer, I now consider this when recording or performing – planning (when possible) those high-note moments for the first half of my cycle, and the alto tones in the second half.
Creativity itself is deeply tied to feminine energy and intuition. The more I tune into my body, the more connected I feel to the music I make, and vice versa. And I love discovering artists who explore these themes too—Lucy Peach’s Blood Magic, Scarlet Crow’s In My Womb, Half Waif’s album See You At The Maypole, and some of my own songs, such as Nobody Told Me, all speak to this overlap.
At the heart of it, my creative journey is driven by two things: helping people connect to their bodies and cycles, and helping them feel seen and understood through song. Music moves us – and if it also leads someone to deeper self-awareness or healing, that’s the most powerful gift I can imagine.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to unlearn is the idea that you have to be just one thing – that you have to fit neatly into a box. There’s this pervasive narrative that if you’re not perfectly clear about your brand identity or “niche,” you’ll fail. I’ve come to see how limiting, reductive, and honestly, patriarchal that belief is. We contain multitudes. We’re not static. We evolve, shift, and grow over time. And I think there’s something really beautiful about not only reinventing yourself, but also embracing all the different sides of who you are at the same time.
For a long time, I was afraid to claim both titles: singer/songwriter and menstrual health coach. I felt like I had to choose, like doing both somehow diluted the other. But that’s just a lie sold to us by a capitalistic society that prioritizes clarity over complexity.
I’ll never forget something my teacher Rebecca Stenn said in our “Practical Side of Performance” class at The New School years ago. She told us to “embrace the slashes.” Meaning: you can be an actor / dancer / singer / songwriter / juggler / fashion designer—as many slashes as you want/need! That idea stuck with me, even if it took years to fully accept.
As a creative, I now realize it’s actually more difficult not to function that way. Embracing the slashes is what makes the journey more honest – and more fun.
Contact Info:
- Website: hillarycapps.com // periodconcierge.com
- Instagram: @hillcapps // @periodconcierge
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/hillarycapps
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/hillcapps
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7zuLkl0N5q7FJ5cynFrbjr?si=FjrZB3a-RoOS-9QKgVtO9A
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/hillary-capps/281406603
Bandcamp: hillarycapps.bandcamp.comNew single: https://ffm.to/lyrbwmp
Free period pain guide download: https://www.periodconcierge.com/subscribe
Image Credits
Jessica Hanley
Harlen Cruz