LoCash Cowboys, Sunny Sweeney + More Celebrate Mother’s Day With Memories of Mom

As we all spend Mother's Day being thankful and grateful for the mothers in our lives, we decided to ask some of today's hottest stars about some of their fondest moments shared with their moms.

Mother's Day has always been a special time for LoCash Cowboys' Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, but this year's will be hard to top. Saturday night (May 7), the LoCash Cowboys made their Grand Ole Opry debut, which they shared in the company of their family. "Mama kept telling me to move to Nashville, so I finally did," Brust tells Taste of Country. "Then, 10 years later, here I am on Mother's Day with my mama in the audience standing 'in the circle' at the Grand Ole Opry!" Lucas adds, "The most amazing moment with my Mother is every second I get to spend with her."

Newcomer Jason Jones' parents divorced when he was three years old, and when he was six, his mother moved from Florida to Georgia. "I would spend the summers in Georgia with my mom and sisters, but it was always kind of a bittersweet thing," says Jones. "I couldn't wait to see my mom and sisters, but I had to leave my dad ... I always remember the last night that I was there at mom's was the most memorable. We'd all just lay there and talk, and I'd get upset because I had to leave and I hated that things had to be the way they were."

"My mom's just really sweet," Jones continues. "She's a huge country music fan. My dad's a truck driver, but he didn't listen to music much. My mom was the exact opposite. I'd say I got my love for country music, if it's genetic, from my mom. She's very proud. She comes out to shows every now and then it's really cool. Remember that movie, 'La Bamba'? The Ritchie Valens story? I can't wait to have to opportunity to show up with a new car or something for her someday. I've always wanted that!"

Joanna Smith's mother also played a major role in the singer's professional career by shaping the songwriter she is today. "My mother is great," notes Smith. "She gave me my love of words and stories and language. She’s a speech therapist. I remember as a little girl, she would read 'Charlotte’s Web' to me, and that was our nighttime ritual. She would only read me one chapter. That’s all I got! Then I had to go to bed. It taught me to love words and reading, because I was dying to know what was going to happen next. She wouldn’t give me anymore. I had to learn to read it myself. That carried through, and it really helped with my songwriting."

Sunny Sweeney, who is very close with her mom, says some of her favorite memories were the one-on-one times shared between mother and daughter on those long trips to visit her grandmother. "A very vivid memory of me and Momma is when we'd take those road trips," Sweeney reflects. "She taught me songs like 'Lucille' and 'Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town.' We'd sing the whole way to Mississippi and back!"

Sibling trio, the Harters, love thinking back on trips made with their mother as well. "My favorite memory of mom is being at her parents cabin in Payson, Ariz. and staying up late at night, sitting out on the back porch of the cabin listening to the creek and the crickets and just listening to her talk," says Michael Harter. "I wouldn't say much. I just sat there and listened. That's always a fond memory. I miss going back to that cabin. I haven’t been there in years."

Margaret Durante says she and her mom are so close that some may consider them "thick as thieves." "She comes to Nashville as often as possible," says Durante. "She lives in D.C. with my two sisters and my dad. She is so smart. All the things that a 22-year-old is supposed to know better than their mom, she knows. My parents have always stressed to me the importance of family, and I leaned on my parents. She's amazing. Crazy amazing."