It’s funny how things have come full circle for Lisa Marie Smith. The PIN UP singer grew up in Las Vegas, went to college at Boston Conservatory, auditioned for gigs around the country and sang on a cruise ship. Then the perfect hometown opportunity came up with PIN UP at Stratosphere and the rest is history. She recently released a bluesy rock single titled “I Want Your Lovin’” with producer Jason Tanzer, and plans on having a full concert set list of original material by the end of 2015. Las Vegas Magazine’s Jorge Labrador talked with Smith about her singing career, the show and her chosen desert island album.

How long have you been singing?

I’ve actually been singing since I was three, yeah. When I was a kid, my mom would put on The Sound of Music and I would sing the words to the songs before I even knew how to talk. … I would just copy whatever Julie Andrews was singing on the TV. I have recordings of it. It’s really funny.

Growing up here and studying music at Las Vegas Academy, did you ever want to be a headliner?

In high school, I’d go see these shows and all I could think was “I want to be there; I want to be there doing that.” (Vegas) was the only place I really wanted to be. It’s my hometown and all I’ve ever wanted to do was be here. It’s really cool to work in the community that I love. As an artist, you don’t get to work in the places you want to work; you go where the work is. I’m just happy that the work is where my family and friends were.

How did you get involved with PIN UP?

I wasn’t landing anything (after college), so I took a contract on Holland America cruise lines as a singer (in the Mediterranean). I was going to do it again, but something was just telling me to come home. Then I got a call from a friend (about the PIN UP opportunity)… I hadn’t even unpacked yet, I didn’t have a head shot, I didn’t have a résumé, I hadn’t seen the show, I knew nothing about it. But I went to audition. They called me back a week after I got home and they offered me the part. It was crazy! I’d been working for so long to try to find a steady job prior to leaving on my ship and then I get home and it basically fell into my lap. I’ve never been that lucky before.

What’s your favorite PIN UP number to perform?

I have two! My first is the October number, called “I Put A Spell On You,” originally (sung) by Nina Simone. That’s the number where Claire comes out in her witch outfit and … Ryan, our male dancer, comes out of the cauldron. That’s my favorite song to sing, and it’s kind of because it’s more blues-oriented ... it’s just a very sultry, sexy song to sing. My favorite number to perform is “Candyman,” which is originally (sung) by Christina Aguilera, which we did (last month) for Mondays Dark at The Joint. We got to open that show with it, so it was nice to perform a favorite number for my favorite charity event.

Tell me about your new blues-rock single with Jason Tanzer, “I Want Your Lovin’.” It’s very different than your material in PIN UP.

I’d always been interested in doing original music, so I’ve spent this last year looking around, kind of poking and prodding and seeing who specialized in that in Vegas and Tanzer’s name kept coming up. We finally met at a party and we kind of bonded. His experience spoke to me, our sounds were the same, we found mutual interest in what he wanted to accomplish. We hashed out this song and it happened really fast, because we had musical chemistry, I guess. We both had the same idea of what, who I wanted to be and what I wanted to sound like.

If you were on a desert island with just one album to listen to, what album would that be?

Oh man, Pat Benatar’s greatest hits! So, Pat Benatar is my idol. She’s a vocal goddess. I grew up listening to her, so if I was stranded on a desert island and I had to listen to one singer for all of eternity, it’d have to be her.