Caroline Jones opened up about the life-changing experience of motherhood and how she’s balancing life on the road with Zac Brown Band after welcoming Baby No. 1 last year. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist became the first — and only — female member of Grammy Award-winning Zac Brown Band, embarked on tour with the group up until she was 37 weeks pregnant, released her third full-length solo record, welcomed Baby No. 1 with husband Nick Dana, and much more.

Now, Jones is catching up with PARENTS editor-in-chief Grace Bastidas in a newly-published interview about balancing her career in music with her life as a mother which she said has made her “stronger and more confident” than ever before.

“It was equal parts hectic and exhausting, but also beautiful,” Jones said in the interview of bringing her son, Declan Tudor Dana, on tour with her. Declan was born on November 29, 2023. “Declan was four and half months old when I took him on tour. He’s visited Nashville, New York, Chicago, California, and so many other places. He had his first croissant in Quebec. I was exclusively breastfeeding while touring and there were times he wouldn’t take the bottle. It was such a nightmare. My poor husband would wait for me to finish the show with this child who would not eat or sleep.”

Jones said her bandmates in Zac Brown Band are “all family men,” and have offered their support as the Homesite artist found her footing while balancing music and being a mom. She noted that Dana also travels for work as a professional sailor, so together, the two have “grown with understanding and compassion towards each other since having a baby. Especially in stressful times, we need to be on each other’s team.”

Jones and Dana got married in 2021, and she announced in June 2023 that she was 19 weeks pregnant with Baby No. 1.

“I said I would never get married and I don’t like skiing (I did both for this picture). Which tells you everything you need to know about what a genuine inspiration Nick Dana is,” Jones wrote in her caption as she shared photos from her breathtaking winter wedding. “God gathered every attribute I could ever want and need in a partner and alchemized them perfectly into this man who deserves everything good in this world. And I get to be the steward of his soul. What an honor. 🙏🏻❄️”

Dana McKenzie