DAYTONA BEACH — Lacey Sturm spent part of her Mother’s Day weekend standing before a massive crowd of RockVillians, singing, dancing, and screaming.
For the 44-year-old mother of three, brunch could wait.
Welcome To Rockville, the four-day rock festival at Daytona International Speedway that concludes on Mother’s Day, May 10, dives deep into metal, punk, and emo bands — often exuding a degree of testosterone not normally associated with the niceties of sending mom flowers.
Sturm was more the exception, lending her voice not only to her band, Flyleaf, but also joining Breaking Benjamin for a number on the Octane Stage on May 9.
In an interview with The News-Journal earlier in the day, she reflected on not merely her own mom and motherhood, but on the thousands of souls in attendance at Rockville and other big music festivals.
“I think of a lot of broken people and broken families, and they have a hard time getting along with their parents, and this is kind of an outlet for those kind of people,” Sturm said. “… In my mind, especially with my grandmother having passed, I think of all the mothers and grandmothers that are looking over us, and I want the best for the people in front of me. I have a mother’s heart for them.”
Some moms, like Lacey Sturm, are rockers, too
On May 9, Natalie Valenzuela stood next to her husband on a tower overlooking a pop-up performance by A Day To Remember, an all-male metalcore and punk-pop outfit from Ocala. She wore a baby wrap with her 5-month-old son Eric nuzzled inside, with noise-canceling headphones over his ears.
To further protect him, Valenzuela said she only ventured outside with him for an hour or two at a time, returning to air-conditioning during most of the heat of the day.
Even though the Valenzuelas live in California, her husband Michael is an electrician who has worked Rockville for five years, and she didn’t want to spend Mother’s Day apart.
“For me, as long as we’re together as a family, that’s what’s important,” she said. “I’d rather be here where my husband is going to be, and we get to spend the day together.”
Added bonus: A Day To Remember, one of their favorites.
“We are music people,” Natalie Valenzuela said, “and so being here and seeing the bands that we love, that’s the perfect way for me to spend Mother’s Day.”
Daughter of a single mom, Lacey Sturm found purpose at 16
Sturm lives in Pennsylvania with her husband Joshua, founder of the band Kairos, and three children, ages 15, 12, and 7. She was born in Homestead, Florida, the second child of a single mom, Lori Mosley, who was 16 when she gave birth to Lacey.
Immediately after birth, Lacey had to be transferred to a Miami hosptial after complications arose.
“My mom said, ‘You were on tour from Day One,'” Sturm said.
Her mom was a singer-songwriter who hosted open-mic nights. Sturm and her older brother Eric (who has his own band, Sown Seed) learned to play music together, even though at times she could see the artist’s life frequently fell short when it came time to pay bills.
“We were always kind of in that world growing up. As a teen, I kind of resented that world,” Sturm said. “I was like, ‘You know, it’s not really making us any money. We’re … always having to move because we can’t pay the rent.'”
She has written that she grew up atheist and felt like she was a burden — enough so that she contemplated taking her own life.
“In this encounter I had with God on the day I planned to take my life, I realized this life is not an accident or mistake or a burden,” Sturm told The News-Journal. “It’s actually a gift, even though it doesn’t always feel like that.”
Maturity brings a better understanding of relationship with mom
Sturm became an Orthodox Christian, and said she planned to start her Mother’s Day at a church in Daytona Beach before flying home later to be with the rest of her family.
Gratitude for gifts, such as a successful music career, has extended to more appreciation for Sturm’s mom.
“This is a gift, the fact that music is a gift. The fact that I can sing, that my mom is a musician. The fact that I know how to be able to play guitar,” she said.
“I realize now that I am a mom how rich that life was for me to learn how to have faith when you don’t necessarily have what everyone else has, or to be resourceful, and to trust that things are going to work out,” Sturm said. “That God is going to show up.”
Being a mom led Lacey Sturm to some career changes
At one point in the interview, her son Atticus interrupted with some breaking news.
“Mom, I counted to 200. I counted to 200,” he said.
She laughed.
When she was still a teen, Sturm started playing with drummer James Culpepper, leading eventually to the start of Flyleaf, whose debut 2005 album was a success, leading to more recordings and tours. Ultimately, though after having her first child in 2011, Sturm stepped away from Flyleaf amicably.
Even as she spent more time at home and caring for children, Sturm continued writing, leading to two solo records, “Life Screams,” (2016) and “Kenotic Metanoia” (2023). Flyleaf, meanwhile, carried on with a different singer who — upon starting her own family — stepped back, leading to this year’s reunion of Sturm and the band. In addition to Rockville, Flyleaf with Lacey Sturm has a U.S. tour planned in July.
Being able to perform on stage and write her own songs has helped Sturm value her artistic outlet, even if it puts her in the crosshairs of critics.
“As an artist, you really make yourself an open target. You have to stop caring what people think,” she said, turning back to her mother’s experience. “And as a teen mom, she already had to do that. Being judged and learning how to try to be strong.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Lacey Sturm of Flyleaf chats about Mother’s Day at Rockville
Reporting by Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
