Kristie Stremel discusses songwriting, family and her new album ahead of her local shows this weekend

In the last six months, Kristie Stremel’s life has changed drastically. The veteran singer-songwriter and her partner, Lori, adopted a baby boy last October, right around the time Stremel was recording her latest solo album, Songwriter, released in April.

With upbeat tunes and thoughtful lyrics, this newest recording is laced with Stremel’s trademark honesty, delving into meaty topics like finding balance, embracing change and dreaming big. Ahead of her show this Friday at the Replay and Saturday at RecordBar, we chatted with Stremel about her sixth solo album and how she’s managing motherhood, music and being on the road.

The Pitch: Your life has changed pretty dramatically since we last spoke. What all has changed, and how is it going?

Stremel: When we last spoke, I was alluding to a big change coming into my life, but I wasn’t prepared to say that we were adopting. The reason I didn’t say anything is because we had a failed adoption, and mum is the word after that. That was the absolute worst grief of anything I’ve ever felt. We moved through that and got Charlie, and boy, was it a change. He’s six months old now.

I was telling Lori that I don’t want to stop playing music just because we have a kid, and she assured me that wouldn’t happen. Three or four weeks after we got him, I was down mixing the record in Springfield. Now I’ve just been playing like crazy, and I’m just so thankful that it hasn’t changed me in that sense. I still want to play music – more than ever now, I think.

How would you describe Songwriter in five words?

Fun, honest songs with no particular genre. That was too many.

What musicians were you excited to work with on this recording?

I was excited because when I sat down to make a list of guys, I had two criteria: I wanted to have fun, and I wanted guys that I knew would leave their ego at the door. I made my list, and it was mainly guys I’d worked with years ago. I called them up and I didn’t even know if they would do it, but they all said yes, including Chris Meck, who played on two of my records when I just started to go solo. I thought maybe I’d burnt that bridge, so it was really neat when he said yes, and when he came out to my studio, it was like no time had passed. It was really magical, and we all had a blast.

Where was the album recorded?

I built a studio at our house about a year and a half ago. I’ve released a couple singles out of it, but this was the full test ride of making my studio work for a full band. It was really neat – I didn’t just set up a little recording studio in the bedroom. I actually had people come in and tear down walls and build up walls. I really modeled it after the Whitney Studio in Springfield, Missouri, where I’m used to recording.

Has becoming a mother affected your songwriting?

I don’t know that it has – yet. But when I was writing for the record, we were going through the adoption process, so I was writing things the way I wanted them to be, because I truly believe our thoughts create our reality. I’m really careful about what I’m putting out there to the universe while I’m writing it. There’s a song in there, “Well Alright,” where I’m talking about how I want the adoption to go and how I want my partner’s and my relationship to go, and it’s really neat to see it come to life.

So the song “Well Alright” is about your relationship?

It is. Lori was joking, “When are you gonna write a song about me?” And I was like, “You don’t want me to write a song about you.” We’re so different. She’s very corporate, and I’m very independent. I said, “I don’t even know how this could work.” And she literally said, “Won’t it be fun?” What a perfect thing to say to somebody.

Are you concerned about finding a balance between music and family?

I wrote “Breaking Up With Dreams” because I was thinking about all of these talented musicians that gave up music because they had families. But that’s their other dream – to have a family. I think it’s on my mind. I don’t want to be a jerk of a mom that’s out on the road or missing out on stuff. I was out on the road for so long and missed so many important things that were going on with my family. I just want to find a good balance. I think it’s definitely a concern – how am I going to do this?

The record seems to be about change, love and happiness but also with a sense of longing. Is it kind of scary to have everything work out the way you want it to?

It’s so interesting to me that I have all these things come my way, and still throughout the day, I’ll find myself dissatisfied with something. A couple of people have told me they can sense an ongoing battle between home life and being on the road, and I identified with that right away. I think that’s always been my struggle – how can I have both? I want to have music and a family, so that’s what I’m attempting to do.

Kristie Stremel plays Friday, May 2, at 6 p.m. at Replay Lounge in Lawrence and Saturday, May 3, at 7 p.m. at RecordBar.