What do Travis Kelce, Nick Jonas and Parker McCollum share? Let's talk Nashville podcasts

You might not know the names Carla Denham, Paige Lankford, Stacy Yancey or Brenda Slaubaugh, but they all have two things in common: They are moms to famous children, and they have all appeared on the Nashville-based podcast "Got It from My Momma" to talk about what it's like to see their kids grow up to realize their dreams and share that story — from a mother's perspective.

The moms to Kelsea Ballerini, Thomas Rhett, Parker McCollum, and Kendra and Krista Slaubaugh from the country duo Tigirlily Gold, (in that order) are just some of the mommas who have spoken with podcast host Jennifer Vickery Smith, who understands their journey. She's the mom of rising country star Connor Smith.

"The actual idea to do a podcast happened backstage at the Grand Ole Opry the night of Connor’s debut," Smith told The Tennessean. "It’s an incredibly special moment not only for the artist, but for the families. I remember as all of our family was so overjoyed, thinking about all the other families who have watched this same night for their kid. There were so many special conversations backstage, I thought how neat it would be to hear other families' stories from this night."

Thomas Rhett's mom was the 'guinea pig'

Smith tapped Rhett's mom Paige Lankford to be her first interviewee in 2022. Their boys were on tour together, so Smith said it just kind-of made sense.

"I basically asked her to be my guinea pig and she was awesome," Smith said. Now, a little more than a year later, Smith is 50 episodes in and has featured many country music moms, but also Steph Curry's mom Sonya, Travis and Jason Kelce's mom Donna and the Jonas Brothers' mom Denise.

"It doesn’t matter what your kid's dream or goal is. We are all behind them trying to support them," she said. "It's intuitive for a mom to say 'How can I help them?' We’re gonna tell them 'you can do it. I believe in you.' That seems to be the common thread behind everyone I’ve interviewed."

Smith remembers when her son was 8, he told her he wanted to be a songwriter. So what'd she do?

"I took him to every open mic night at Puckett's, songwriter rounds, and do everything I could to feed the passion the little kid had. Now, he’s been blessed with all these opportunities."

During a recent podcast recording at the Able store in the Nations neighborhood of Nashville, Brenda Slaubaugh talked about raising her daughters Kendra and Krista in rural North Dakota and sending them on their way to Nashville to pursue their country music dreams.

"They've always been entertainers," Slaubaugh said during the podcast. "Around 14 and 16 they were writing music and recording videos."

But as they began to take music more seriously, the time came to move to Nashville. Slaubaugh told her girls if they were going to move to Nashville, they had to go to college, so they enrolled at Belmont University.

"They called me one time and said 'We have to skip classes today to go audition down on Broadway' Slaubaugh remembers. "I asked 'where did you audition?' and they said 'Nudie's." I felt myself going into a panic. I'd never heard of Nudie's."

Russell Dickerson comes home in a police car

Smith has a background in broadcasting, so conducting interviews was the easy part of starting a podcast.

"I literally was googling how to start a podcast," Smith remembers. "What equipment do you need? How do you build a web site? I was learning about the business side, the mechanics of how to get it done. Initially I thought about renting some studio space and once a month or so I meet moms and interview here and there, but then I thought 'why not just do this on my couch in my living room?' I am going to be talking to people who aren’t used to a spotlight and a microphone. It quickly became a heart to heart between two moms."

She wasn't even sure at first if any moms would be interested in talking to her. She said she learned quickly that moms were flattered to be asked because they love talking about their kids.

"I was super excited to get the Jonas Brothers' mom," she said. "My favorite thing she said was when they were living up north and two boys got cast at the same time in Broadway shows as little boys. She thought 'We thought it can’t get any bigger than this.' She thought that was the pinnacle of success for them."

Sonya Curry talked to Smith about vulnerability. Lauren Alaina’s mom talked about how she dealt with her daughter's anorexia stemming from pressure from her time on "American Idol." Jesse James Decker’s mom talked about internet trolls and the difficulty of dealing with that. Kelsea Ballerini's mom spoke right after Ballerini's divorce and how hard it was for "momma bear" to not clap back on social media.

"Fans love to hear more," Smith said. "If I'm a Parker McCollum fan, I want to know more about him and there's nobody better to hear that from than his mom. It was fun to hear how Russell Dickerson got brought home in a police car once when he was young. These are the kinds of stories only a momma can tell."

Caitlin Clark, if you are listening, Smith wants to talk to your momma

Clark is one of many whose moms Smith would love to sit down with for the podcast.

"Caitlin Clark changed the face of the WNBA. I’d love to talk to Justin Timberlake's mom. Let’s talk about the Mickey Mouse Club days. Those, I think will be interesting stories. People who are making a difference. How in the world did they get there?"

The episode with the Slaubaughs goes live on Mother's Day.

"If nobody listens to these episodes, what I’m getting out of them for my own journey as a mom is so fulfilling," Smith said. "I think that resonates with people."

The "Got it from My Momma" podcast episodes live at www.gotitfrommymommapodcast.com/episodes. Video episodes are also available on Smith's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@gotitfrommymommapodcast

Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com, on X @HurtMelonee or Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville podcast 'Got It from My Momma' talks famous people's mothers