Lisa Renee Smith on Rediscovering Music After Motherhood

After years of balancing creative ambitions with the demands of parenting, Fort Worth musician Lisa Renee Smith has found harmony between the two. Her journey—from jazz student to mom, to frontwoman and songwriter—proves that motherhood can be a spark for reinvention rather than a limitation.

In this conversation with DFWChild, Smith opens up about rediscovering her passion for music after becoming a mother, finding her creative community in Fort Worth, and what parenting has taught her about authenticity, resilience and joy.

“I had to get creative about what was going to fit in my life and finding a way to be my authentic self, which is what my family needs anyway.”

Interview with Lisa Renee Smith 

DFWChild: You describe yourself as a full-time mom and a part-time musician. Tell us how becoming a mom led you back to your passion?

LRS: Music has always been a release and an expression for me, but studying music in college kind of turned it into a stress. So I stepped away for a while and ended up getting my master’s in library science—a completely different field. Then after I had Haden I had this thought: someday I’m going to have to tell him that I quit. And that didn’t sit right with me.

So I slowly got back into it when he was a baby. I started singing in wedding bands, getting back into playing guitar, and then that led to some opportunities to do solo gigs, which has really blown up. And most recently I’ve gotten back into songwriting.

C: Did parenthood also hold you back at all?

LRS: I had a long period where I was really focused on what I couldn’t do because I was a mom. I was really aching to be part of this music community, but I was like, I can’t do that, I have a kid, I have responsibilities, I can’t go hang out at a show. I had a time when I was really bitter; feeling isolated and self-pity about a choice that I had made.

But I came to a point where I flipped and I said, I need to focus on what I can do. Like if your child says, ‘I can’t,’ you say, ‘have you tired?’ And if they try and they fail, you say, ‘OK, what went wrong?’ Finally, I had to do that for myself. I had to get creative about what was going to fit in my life and finding a way to be my authentic self, which is what my family needs anyway.

C: How did music help you build your community?

LRS: I see a lot moms reaching out to make friends with other moms, but I really wanted to find people who shared my hobbies. I wanted to feel connected to other people who were playing music. I met [Fort Worth musician] Simone Nicole who said she was starting a songwriting group (Songbirds of Fort Worth), and I’m like, I used to write songs, I’ll be there. It was just three ladies at first, which was a cool thing. No one cared that I brought my kid along.

And so I started writing again for the sake of community and fell back in love with it. But you’re writing songs about stuff that’s going on in your life, so you get close and you get to know each other real quick. There were times that it started to feel a little like therapy (laughs).

C: What’s your songwriting process like?

LRS: There are a lot of songwriters who just write when they feel it, but that takes this commitment to be open to writing at all times. I’ve got stuff to do around the house, and I need to be fully present with my kid, I don’t want to be that person who is always distracted. So I try to have discipline, a time that I sit down to write.

But you also have to be open to creativity coming the way it comes. For instance, this morning when I sent my son off to school on his bicycle, I reminded him to turn on the little blinking light on back of his bike, which I do every morning. But when I took a minute to reflect on that, that action is full of meaning and emotion—the care that goes into his safety, sending him off by himself to meet his friends, to go to school. Sometimes zooming into the little details of the moment like that will spark something.

C: You’re releasing an EP (extended play) this month. Does it feel vulnerable to put your music out into the world? 

LRS: I just think it’s art and I think it’s worth putting out; I have no expectations. I have to let go of how things are received, because sometimes it’s crickets and sometimes it’s in a way that’s surprising and great. I have this song I wrote about feeling on the outside that I thought I wrote for other moms who were feeling isolated.

But when I started playing it out, I started getting responses from men who were like, yeah, I feel like I’m on the outside too. I was really surprised by that reception. I would never have guessed it would resonate with them. If I had looked around at the crowd and said, oh there’s a bunch of guys here, they won’t get this song, then I would have never known.

C: Is your son musical?

LRS: He loves science and the first 8 or 9 years of his life he was obsessed with trains, and now it’s aviation. He’s one of those kids that just soaks up facts like a sponge. He’s got great ears, great rhythm, and great pitch, but right now it’s just not his thing. But all that matters to me is that he has the option to participate if he wants to—he’s never going to be the guy who thinks he can’t sing along, or he can’t dance, or he can’t clap. He’s got all that so I’m happy.

C: And that’s also why you taught music to kids for some time?

LRS: I felt like it was really important work because I think that everybody should be able to sing along to Happy Birthday or clap at a concert. I think there’s like a basic level of music literacy that we should all have just for the sake of participating. And so I was doing that work in preschools for a while, but I learned that just because you’re passionate about something doesn’t mean you’re the right person for it (laughs).

C: How can a non-musical mom introduce music to her child?

LRS: You have to create an environment in your house where you’re not self-conscious. Sing openly and freely to your child, with your child, around your child, dance with them, and don’t apologize—don’t say ‘I’m not a great singer.’ The best thing you can do is have an environment where your child feels free to make that kind of noise.

Don’t worry about buying them an instrument when they’re young because that instrument might turn into a toy car that they’re pushing around on the carpet—it’s a toy and they’ll play with it however they want to play with it. But the flip side of that is, if you give them pots and pans and spoon, that can become an instrument. They don’t care how things are supposed to be used when they’re young, they just want to have fun with it.

C: What’s the best parenting advice you’ve ever gotten? 

LRS: When I first was pregnant, my mom said to me: There are lots of people in this world who have kids who are not as smart as you and they do fine (laughs). There’s so much pressure on motherhood but it’s also a very universal thing; it’s been done a million times. It can never be done perfectly, but it can be done well, and you can do it well because so many people have done just fine at it.

C: What have you found most surprising about being a mom?

LRS: When I want to be a better parent, all I have to do is work on being a better person. It’s profound how much I’ve changed, and how the values that I’ve always had have really come to the forefront to set a better example. I’ve learned how to relate to everyone better, even myself, by learning how to relate to my son better.

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Lisa Renee Smith’s Fort Worth Favorites

The Fort Worth singer/songwriter talks local traditions, making tunes, and parenting moments that have struck a chord.

1. Kid-Friendly Music Venues

Looking for a cool spot to catch live music? At the top of Smith’s list is Southside Preservation Hall. “Especially the Rose Chapel,” she says. “A historic building with a great warm feel.”

Bringing the kids along? She recommends Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, Levitt Pavilion in Arlington, or Truck Yard, where you’ll find live music every day and rotating food trucks. “They’ve got a little Ferris wheel and outdoor area that’s fun for kids because they use pieces of trucks for their seating.”

2. Prime Spot for Watching Planes Take Off

“When I have my son and it’s just the two of us on the weekends, we do lunch together either out at Alliance Airport, where you can sit on a little hill by the runway, or Founders’ Plaza, where we watch the planes land and takeoff from DFW Airport.”

Note that Founders’ Plaza [1700 N Airfield Dr., Grapevine] is temporarily closed for construction but anticipated to reopen in early 2026.

3. Her Life in Lyrics

“Part of being a parent is you kind of see your own childhood a little more clearly,” Smith says. The release of her EP, This Side of Mississippi, in mid-November, marks that journey. “It’s five songs that I felt really told that story.”

4. Mini Train Track Traditions

“My son used to be obsessed with trains, and Christmas is when the trains come out,” Smith says of their family tradition checking out model train displays around DFW this time of year—from the iconic Trains at NorthPark featuring 1,600 feet of track that rolls through a scene of Dallas to White’s Chapel’s custom display, which includes miniature replicas of Southlake’s most beloved local landmarks and portions of the Fort Worth Stockyards.

RELATED: Where to Go on Train Rides Around Texas

5. Introduce Music to Your Kids Early & Make It Fun

If you want to raise musically minded children, the best thing you can do is bring music into your home, Smith says. But if you’re looking outside the house, she suggests starting with your local recreation or community centers, or music lesson studios, which often also have programs for younger kids.

RELATED: Mommy and Me Classes in DFW