We were lucky to catch up with Elisa Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Elisa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I recently released my first full length album “Baptized By Fire.” On that record, there is a track called “Tomorrow” that I wrote about my son when he was just a little baby. I used to get so sad at night time during our bed time routine because I knew that I would miss him so much during the night. I would hold him close as long as I could, knowing that I had to say goodnight and let him sleep even though I didn’t want to. But, I also knew that even though I was sad to let him go, I knew that the next morning when he woke up, my love for him would grow even bigger. The lyrics to the chorus are:

When the day is done
And the birds have flown
It’s harder now to let you go
But when we say goodnight
In the moonlight glow
I know
I’ll love you more tomorrow

I was writing some lines of the song and my mother-in-law overheard me while she was in the kitchen. And we got to talking about being mothers, me a new mom, and her a mother of 3 adult children, one of which (my brother-in-law) who is in the navy and was in Afghanistan at the time. She talked about how hard it is to let your children go and how scary it can be to have a child in the military. But that you have to be strong for them. I knew that I wanted to incorporate those ideas into “Tomorrow.” So I went to a writing session that day with my good friend and co-writer Stephen Leiweke and I brought him the chorus and some of the ideas I’d been thinking through.

We worked through the song and by the time we had written it, we both had tears streaming down our faces. We have both been in a lot of writing sessions (him more than me), but neither of us had experienced that level of emotion in a writing room. You can even hear the cracks in my voice as I struggle to get through the last verse on the work tape.

I recorded the song, produced by Caleb Gilbreath (Brett Eldredge, Mandi Sagal) and Eddie Bayers (Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson) and released it on my record “Baptized by Fire.”

Currently, I’ve re-recorded the song with the 78th Army Band and filmed a music video with them as well. It was such an honor to play with the fine men and women of the 78th. The video is scheduled to be released in honor of Verterans Day this year.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in a small town in Illinois outside of Chicago and I’ve loved music from an early age – my earliest memory is gathering my stuffed animals and cuddling in my dad’s guitar case while he practiced gospel tunes for church. As a child, I was enraptured by my grandmother’s stories of Nashville and the Opry in the 50’s and 60’s. I also shared my father’s love of classic rock from the 70’s. And I fell asleep my mother’s lullabies (which, as an adult, I now know were the dust-worn ballads of Woody Guthrie). Rock n roll and vintage country run in my blood.

I started singing at church on Sundays and in school and my dad bought me my first guitar when I was 14. I moved from my small town to the big city to attend Berklee College of Music. While at Berklee, I studied music business and music production. It was during this time that I unearthed my passion for education. Fascinated by the science of music and fueled by my desire to increase access to music education, I enrolled at Harvard to receive my Masters degree in Arts Education. It was here that I met Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, and it was here that my life changed forever.

I always say when Garth Brooks invites you on stage to play a song, you play a song! I met Garth when she attended a talk he and Trisha Yearwood were giving at Harvard. At the time, I was studying whether the study of music can mitigate the neurological effects childhood trauma has on the brain (turns out, yes – it can). Anyway, during the talk, Garth mentioned that he still gets nervous before he performs and this resonated with me – I loved to perform, but I really struggled with stage fright. During the Q&A portion at the end, I raised my hand and asked him how he overcomes his nerves when he’s on stage. After asking my name, and what kind of music I play, he said, “Well this is what we call getting baptized y=by fire. Get on up here and play us a song!” He invited me on stage to play a song for him and the other 300 people that were there that day! After I sang, Garth gave me his guitar (the one I play with now) and told me to sing my heart out. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.

After I was “baptized by fire” by Garth Brooks, I returned to her roots. I began writing and performing with an unquenchable ferocity. I really focus on writing songs that elicit feelings of nostalgia, pride, wanderlust, heartbreak, and good ol’ fashioned boot-stompin’ mischief. In 2018, I released her debut EP, “Hitch A Ride.” Featuring Grammy-winning and platinum-status talent, the 6-song EP was produced by Johnny Duke (Little Big Town, Miranda Lambert, and Chris Stapleton).

In 2021, I released my first full length album, “Baptized By Fire.” Produced by Caleb Gilbreath (Brett Eldredge, Mandi Sagal) and Eddie Bayers (Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson), the album tells the story of redemption through love, family, and faith. The album was released one song at a time with the full release (plus a special bonus track) released in February of 2022.

Currently, I just finished recording an upcoming EP titled “Spirit On The Run” (release date TBD) and I’m currently writing my next full length album.

Twice nominated for a Boston Music Award for Country Artist of the Year and a New England Country Music Award for Best Country Artist, I’ve been referred to as “Boston’s Honky Tonk Country Queen” and “one of the best original country acts in New England.” I’ve been featured on The Bull, Country 102.5, and indie radio stations across the country. I’ve headlined and performed at festivals throughout New England, performed on Boston local television, and I’ve been featured in WBUR’s the ARTery, HarvardEd Magazine, and music blogs from around the world.

It’s been a wild ride, but I’m just warming up.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The ability to connect with someone and have them feel understood is why I write music. Country music can be so powerful because it’s so based on story and characters. Today we lost an absolute legend, the woman I have looked up to for my entire career, Loretta Lynn. Her ability to connect with people and empower women was only matched by Dolly Parton (both of them are in good company). Sure it feels good to see a ton of likes and listens on Spotify but the ones that matter most are when I get a message from someone saying how one of my songs made them feel. It’s an incredible feeling and that’s why I keep doing what I do, even thought it’s insanely hard!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Life is full of choices and the fun part is not knowing where those choices will take you. I found the love of my life when I was young and we got married when we were just 23. We were living in Boston and I was traveling back and forth between Boston and Nashville. As my music career began to grow, there came a point where we were talking about my moving there and doing our marriage long-distance because my husband had to stay in Boston. We love each other more than anything but I had a horrible feeling that would have been the end of our marriage and so I stayed in Boston. It was around this time that I was also starting to get the baby itch so instead of moving to Nashville to try and “make it,” I pivoted, stayed in Boston and started a family. It sounds like a sad story, right? And I’d be lying if I said that sometimes I think what if, but as I continued to pursue my career in Boston, write, travel, and grow, I learned so much more about myself than I think I would have if I had moved. Becoming a mother has been an incredible experience full of joy, heartbreak, frustration, and unconditional love. The songs that I am writing are born from my renewed perspectives as a mother, wife, sister. My identity has become so multi-faceted – more than just “artist.” I think there’s a quickness to label someone who decides to have children instead of pursue a career as somehow anti-feminist in some way, however having made that choice, I would have to disagree. I think being a feminist is feeling confident and empowered to make your choices. Others be damned. And while my career is likely not what it could have been, knowing the deep dark places of my heart, I know that I am more fulfilled now than I would have been.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elisasmithmusic.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/elisasmithmusic
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/elisasmithmusic
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/elisasmithmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq9uYJ_2TgIwDnf7wbUv7_A
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0DuQ6P0o7YsP22YeiCOFJc?si=kHSQ_3yCToeRYUb6nNPTQg