Something special happened at The Sinclair on February 4th. The intimate concert venue was home to Chicks with Picks and One Cool Dude to benefit Tufts Floating Hospital, but with a different spin on it. Instead of the typical one act at a time type of concert, Kelsea Ballerini, Maddie and Tae, Lori McKenna and Easton Corbin all took the stage on barstools at once in the style of a songwriters round- they each sang a song of their own and went in circles performing. The artists were joined by their band members sitting behind them, waiting for their turn to play. It was a great way to be able to feel like you were having a conversation with the singers, as they told stories about tours and their songs.
Before the show, Kelsea told us how the she arrived on the country scene. Coming from a background of church choir and her high school’s version of Glee Club, the Tennessee native started songwriting when she was 12. With little-to-no musical family history, the girl some people call the next Taylor Swift knew she had to pursue it. “Everyone in my family is scholarly, but not musical,” Kelsea said. “I just had the weird gene.”
Because there are plenty of women in country music to model herself after, Kelsea couldn’t pick just one. “I look up to Kelly Clarkson. I love Carrie and I’m a big fan of Kacey Musgraves,” answered the bubbly Ballerini. “But I think you have to make sure you’re different enough.” With so much to look forward to in the future, the star recalls a couple of her favorite moments in her young career. “Hearing my song on the radio for the first time, definitely,” the 21-year-old smiled. “It was a couple of months ago in Nashville and I just freaked out. Another time, I was on the ACC red carpet interviewing for Radio Disney. Hillary from Lady A, who is one of my dear friends, got to tell me that I will be debuting on the Grand Ole Opry. Everything came together at that moment.” It doesn’t look like things will be slowing down for Ballerini any time soon, as her first album is set to drop later this year.
Kelsea was the first to kick off the concert. After introducing herself, she announced that Valentine’s Day would be her Opry debut as she led into her song, ‘Dibs.’ The song, which claims a boy and everything that comes with him, had the crowd singing and dancing with Kelsea. The cutest duo in country music was up next. Maddie and Tae started their set list with ‘Smoke,’ a song about the boy who just can’t seem to stay in place. Stoughton’s pride and joy, Lori McKenna then took her turn, performing ‘Buy This Town,’ but the best part was her story that went with it, showing just how much of a normal person she is. “I wrote the song in a mini van in yoga pants, driving my kids to high school,” McKenna laughed. “I talk about Stoughton football in the song, back when they weren’t good five or six years ago.” The realness coming from McKenna was inspiring. Easton Corbin finished the first round by playing his first hit, ‘Little More Country Than That.’ It was Corbin who was most known to the crowd, but the girls of the show wooed the crowd’s hearts by the end of the night.
Ballerini was up again, but with a song in mind a fan yelled out, “Peter Pan!” She was so taken aback that a fan made a request for one of her songs, that she dropped the idea of what she was going to play, and made the fan’s night by singing a song about a boy who just couldn’t grow up. Everyone knows someone who this ballad could be dedicated to and needless to say it was a crowd pleaser. Continuing with the amusing stories behind a song, Maddie and Tae talked about how their tune, ‘Sierra,’ came about. “There was a beauty queen girl at the high school,” Maddie explained. “About two weeks before graduation we wrote a song about her, Sierra. She did not like it at all- she texted me.” Lyrics like, “I wish I had something nice to say about that girl and her million-dollar face, but beauty only gets you so far,” and “I hope that I’m around when you get knocked up or knocked down,” had all the fans laughing. The lesson here? Never piss off a songwriter!
Kelsea finished up her set with ‘Under Age’ and lastly ‘Love Me Like You Mean It,’ while Maddie and Tae closed with ‘Fly’ and ‘Girl In A Country Song.’ Lori sealed her night with her song ,’Girl Crush,’ currently on the radio and recorded by Little Big Town, and the song that stole the entire show, putting a stop to the concert for a minute with a big ovation, ‘Humble and Kind.’ It was the type of song you don’t hear too often, written by McKenna as “instructions” for her kids and how to handle the world with humility and grace. People stood there in awe as she sang in her raspy voice. “I wrote it in rhyme form so they would listen,” McKenna joked. Corbin, disappointed he had to follow that act and a long applause, wrapped up the show with ‘Are You With Me,’ a possible next single, and ‘All Over The Road.’
While this show was small in stature, it was one of the neatest events around. The format was unique and although the acts written down on paper may seem random, they could not have meshed any better. It was a night to remember in Harvard Square.
This was written by Lauren Rose, contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter here.
For more photos and video from this great concert for a great cause, you can check out WKLB’s multimedia here.