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In Harmony

Moms Rock!

By Matt Stringer

Emily Lord commanded a Patriot missile battery in Saudi Arabia. She sold goods and services as a sales executive in the Silicon Valley. Now, she changes her daughter’s diapers and delights in being a mom—and a rock artist.

She gave birth to Kate in September 2004 and since then has balanced the demands of being a mother with the world of touring, promoting, and playing music.

“I was able to bring the baby on the road. It definitely has another set of challenges. She’s at an age right now where she’s really adaptable,” Lord said.

Lord released her third album, Brand New Day, in July and toured around the country in Mamapalooza, a festival that honors Mom-musicians, artists, poets, comics, dancers, and filmmakers.

“It’s been a wonderful experience playing with people who are moms and celebrating it rather than looking at it as a liability,” Lord said.

Her music is a brand of heartland rock that intersects somewhere between Bob Seger, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Melissa Etheridge. Her recent success had enabled her to admit that she loves John Denver, something she had trouble doing before. “One of the reasons I play guitar today is because I listened to so much John Denver growing up,” Lord said.

Lord isn’t the only mom out there who is rocking out; there’s a whole underground movement of moms who are seeing being a mom as something positive to be celebrated: Many of them are featured on Tiffany Petrossi’s Web site, www.rockinmoms.com.

Petrossi started the Web site to promote, acknowledge, and inspire moms who write music.

“Rockin’ Moms just sort of came last summer [2004] and I just love it. It does take a lot of work,” Petrossi said. “There’s some moms who don’t have any CDs and they want to do it, and there’s other moms that are already professional.”

Petrossi said she too is on a journey to becoming a professional musician while also raising her two kids, Gabriella, 6, and Liam, 3, with her husband, Jamie. “Finding a balance there is tough,” she said.

It does have its rewards. “I don’t think I’ve come across one negative comment. I did have some dads e-mail me and say, ‘What about us. We rock.’ I can’t do everything,” she said.

This fall, Petrossi will be releasing a compilation CD Rockin’ Moms: Volume One. Many of the songs on the CD revolve around motherhood, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it. “They’re songwriters,” Petrossi said.

Petrossi toured with Lord during Mamapalooza; Lord has been featured on her Web site as well. “She has a great voice. She has a really great stage presence,” Petrossi said.

Lord met her husband, Duff, while she was in the military. She’s seen places from Korea to the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

You can hear the influence of her time as an army officer in some of her songs in her second album RearView Mirror, especially in the song “I Bet She.” The song is about being replaced by another woman. Lord sings, “I bet you never have to wonder / and you know just where you stand / you’ll never get her postcards / from some distant land.”

In Saudi Arabia she commanded a unit of soldiers but when she left the base she was relegated to the back of the vehicle and made to wear an abaya, a dark robe that covers the entire body, and a headscarf. “It was strange, because I was in charge. You have to be respectful of their traditions,” Lord said.

But now she has an entirely different world to deal with and that’s what’s portrayed on her new album. “Inspirationally, the songs reflect the transition from being a professional musician to being a mom,” Lord said.

The first song on the new album, “One Day at a Time,” reveals her feeling when she sings, “Giving up a little freedom for love / Yes and that’s just fine / as I take one day at a time.”

The future looks bright.

“I’ve never been happier or more fulfilled. I have an amazing husband who is so supportive and I have the most amazing daughter. Everyday is an adventure,” she said.

Matt Stringer is the editor of Curious Parents. To learn more about Emily Lord, visit her Web site www.emilylord.com.