About
James Larken Smith is a Texas musician, broadcaster, disability advocate, and ministry speaker. He was born August 4, 1963. The name is spelled Larken — with an E.
Music came first. A family friend lent him a trumpet and a stack of Carpenters records. He studied music in college for two years. Most of his college work was in paint and coatings science and in church ministry. For about 25 years he worked as a paint and coatings formulation and testing specialist, including time at ExxonMobil as a Senior Research Technician specializing in paint and coatings technology. For three of those years he also served as safety coordinator — an added role he enjoyed. Leading worship, pastoring, and playing trumpet and piano stayed a side of life through those years. After the stroke he kept playing both — trumpet and keyboards — with one hand. His recent music features James playing trumpet and keyboards with one hand.
In 2004 an AVM aneurysm ruptured. The hemorrhagic stroke left him a wheelchair user with use of one arm. He has said the days after surgery were tough, and that working at recovery is what grew hope. That journey is in the song From Worry to Hope. It is also why he talks with survivors, families, and caregivers without dressing the story up.
The stroke opened a void where live music and audience had been. He found his way back through radio. The Morning Coffee Mix began as a morning show — music, talk, and comedy, made to be uplifting — and ran for years as a legal internet station. Listeners wrote when they were going through something hard. He is rebuilding that show now as a podcast: same coffee-table feel, less daily grind.
The same thread runs through ministry in the San Antonio area, including Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, Sage Park SA, and The Forum: music and short messages for seniors and rehab residents. Faith-rooted and encouraging.
He lives in the San Antonio area with his wife, Lisa. He likes music, movies, and sports. He loves being Grandpa James. And he likes leaving people a little steadier than he found them.
Music
James Larken Smith writes and records as a singer-songwriter. Trumpet was an early gift — borrowed from a family friend, next to a stack of Carpenters records — and it never left. His recent music features James playing trumpet and keyboards with one hand. The songs often carry hope through hard days. From Worry to Hope grew out of recovery after stroke and brain surgery.
Selected songs
- Phantom of the Hall
- From Worry to Hope
- You Are My King
- Jesus Paid It All
- Wailing to Dancing
- Just a Closer Walk With Thee
- Streets of Gold
- You Are Worthy
- Sound the Battle Cry
- Blow the Trumpet
Podcast
The Morning Coffee Mix started after the stroke, when James needed music and an audience again. It grew into a years-long morning show — about three-quarters music, the rest talk and comedy — built to be happy and useful for people heading into a hard day.
He is rebuilding it as a podcast. Same mix: stories, humor, a little trumpet, encouragement. Not a daily grind. Sit down with coffee. Leave steadier than you arrived.
Disability Advocate
In 2004 an AVM aneurysm rupture caused a hemorrhagic stroke. James Larken Smith has lived more than two decades as a wheelchair user with use of one arm. That is not the whole story. It is the ground he speaks from.
He advocates in the ordinary sense: telling the truth about recovery, limits, humor, faith, and the long work of living. The aim is to encourage stroke and disability survivors, families, and caregivers — not to lecture them. A book on living with disability, drawn from that 2004 before-and-after, is in the works.
That work has included The Aneurysm and AVM Foundation (TAAF) and the Joe Niekro Foundation — two groups that support people living with aneurysm and AVM. James has shown up for both: walks, gatherings, survivor events, and the quiet job of being present so others know they are not the only one.
Ministry
James Larken Smith brings music and short, uplifting messages to seniors and rehab residents in the San Antonio area, including Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, Sage Park SA, and The Forum. The tone is faith-rooted and encouraging. It is not aimed at one denomination.
Themes often return to hope in later life, God’s presence in trials, and still bearing fruit. That same voice from The Morning Coffee Mix is here too: music, a short word, and the reminder that you are not forgotten.
How to search this name
This site exists so search engines have a clear home page for James Larken Smith.
- Correct spelling: James Larken Smith (Larken with an e).
- This is not James Larkin Smith, the Houston attorney.
- This is not the historical labor leader James Larkin.
- Best search:
"James Larken Smith"orJames Larken Smith Morning Coffee Mix.