Encore: The Art of Parenting: Insights from Mothers in Music

Questions? Comments? Guest suggestions? Send us a text!

Hello, this is Valerie Day from Living A Vocal Life. During my break from producing new interviews, I'm revisiting some of the insightful conversations I've had with singers in the past five years. This encore episode delves into the crossroads of creativity and motherhood.

In these conversations, you'll discover how artist mothers balance the challenges and rewards of maintaining their creativity while parenting. They share candid accounts of balancing performances with breastfeeding, coping with postpartum depression, and the sacrifices they've made for their children and their art.

This series illuminates the journey of nurturing children and art, offering encouragement and guidance for those on similar paths.

I'd like to express my gratitude to the 11 women who generously lent their voices to the series:

Rebecca Sanborn
Danielle Tucker
Moana Wolfgramm
N'Kenge
Rosi Amador
Ara Lee James
Whitney Jones
Karla Harris
Alex Whiler
China Forbes
Stephanie Schneiderman

The songs featured in this series are:
Stand and Sway, written by Ara Lee James and Beth Wood
from their album Deep Blue

Sleep Is A Wonderful Thing, by Morley from the album Borderless Lullabies.
Borderless Lullabies is a collection of songs and spoken-word recordings, with 100% of proceeds benefiting KIND: Kids In Need of Defense: supportkind.org

Right Before My Eyes, written by my husband, John Smith, from our Nu Shooz Orchestra album Pandora's Box

Stephanie Schneiderman's song, Wherever You Go, from her album Crossfire. 

The books mentioned in the episode are:
The Baby On The Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood & The Mind-Baby Problem by Julie Phillips.

Mother Nurture by Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Jan Hanson, and Ricki Pollycove

Sign up for Vocal Notes — my once-a-month newsletter for singers.
Visit my website for other offerings for singers.

Support the show