We, at New England Country Music, are continuing our series spotlighting women in country music. While the acronym WCW, standing for ‘Women Crush Wednesday,’ is often used for physical attraction, that is not the case here. This series will feature talented women who are crushing the country music scene.
It’s hard to believe that August is right around the corner. The heat of the summer is definitely here. This week we are happy to introduce you to Lori McKenna. The singer-songwriter was born and raised right here in Stoughton, MA. Little did she know, the boy she knew in third grade, would later end up being her husband. Lori married Gene McKenna when she was nineteen and the two have five children. Lori’s started dabbling in songwriting as she wrote lullabies for her babies. As her interest in music grew, she began to bring her guitar and play at a open-mic nights in and around Boston. McKenna began working professionally in 2000. She started gathering a loyal, local fan base as she released four records between 2000 and 2004, ‘Paper Wings and Halo,’ ‘Pieces of Me,’ ‘The Kitchen Tapes,’ and ‘Bittertown.’ It was in 2004 that Faith Hill took a liking to McKenna’s work and decided to cover a few of McKenna’s songs on her 2005 album, ‘Fireflies.’ With the support of Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Lori McKenna spread her wings in Nashville and toured with them in 2006. This WCW went on to release six more albums: ‘Unglamorous’ in 2007, ‘Lorraine’ in 2011, ‘Massachusetts’ in 2013, ‘Numbered Doors’ in 2014, ‘The Bird and the Rifle’ in 2016, and ‘The Tree’ in 2018.
Aside from her own work, Lori McKenna has become a very sought-after songwriter for many artists in Music City. She has written or co-written songs for many country artists including ‘I Want Crazy’ for Hunter Hayes, ‘Girl Crush’ for Little Big Town, ‘God Made Girls’ for RaeLynn, ‘Humble and Kind’ for Tim McGraw, and ‘Cry Pretty’ for Carrie Underwood.
McKenna’s accomplishments include winning the 2015 CMA Award – Song of the Year for ‘Girl Crush.’ She won the 2016 GRAMMY Award – Best Country Song for ‘Girl Crush’ and the 2016 CMA Award – Song of the Year for ‘Humble and Kind.’ She took home the 2017 GRAMMY Award – Best Country Song for ‘Humble and Kind.’ She also won the 2017 ACM Award – Songwriter of the Year.
If you’re ever in Nashville, be sure to check out the exhibit highlighting Lori McKenna at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
We can’t wait to see more from this local and incredibly talented WCW.
It is exciting for us to announce that Lori McKenna will be in New England this upcoming weekend. You can see her at the Shea Theater Arts Center in Montague, MA on Friday, August 2nd. And she’ll be at Isaac Harris Cary Memorial Building in Lexington, MA on Saturday, August 3rd. Then you can catch her at Port City Blue in Portland, ME on Sunday, August 3rd.
Be sure to download ‘The Tree‘ on Apple Music here.
You can stay connected with Lori McKenna by following her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Stay tuned for our next installment of WCW in country music. It is set to hit our page on Wednesday, August 14th.