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Lori McKenna
Performing solo, Custom House Stage, New Bedford Summerfest, 2006 Photo: Thom C.
Background information
Birth name	Lori Giroux
Born	(1968-12-22) December 22, 1968 (age 49)[1] Stoughton, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Country Folk, Americana
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Warner Bros., Signature Sounds, Universal
Associated acts	Hunter Hayes Faith Hill Little Big Town Tim McGraw Jimmy Wayne
Website	www.lorimckenna.com

Lori McKenna (née Giroux;^[2] born December 22, 1968) is an American folk, Americana, and country music singer, songwriter, and performer. In 2016, she was nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and won Best Country Song for co-writing the hit single "Girl Crush" performed by Little Big Town.^[3] In 2017, she again won Best Country Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards for writing "Humble and Kind" performed by Tim McGraw.^[4]

Early & Personal Life

McKenna was born and raised in Stoughton, MA, where she still lives today.^[5] Her mother died when she was seven-years-old, a theme often touched on in her music. She met her husband, Gene McKenna, in third grade^[2] and married him at age 19. The two have five children together.^[5]

McKenna first started writing lullabies to her children. Her brother, who first introduced her to the guitar, encouraged her to attend an open-mic night at the Old Vienna Kaffeehause in Westborough, MA in 1996.^[2] The organizer heard her play and encouraged her to come back, becoming her informal manager and booking shows for her around Boston.^[2]

Songwriting and music career

McKenna began to work professionally with manager Gabriel Unger in 2000 and stayed with him until 2004. During this time, she released her first four albums under Signature Sounds and developed a folk music fan base in the Northeast.^[6] She won awards at the Boston Music Awards,^[7] and also performed at the Sundance Film Festival.^[8]

In 2004, singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier introduced McKenna's album Bittertown to the Nashville music scene. Upon hearing it, Faith Hill stalled her completed 2005 record, Fireflies, to replace tracks with covers of McKenna's songs.^[1][2] Hill and husband Tim McGraw became McKenna's champions and asked her to tour with them in 2006.^[9] Hill took McKenna to perform with her on the Oprah Winfrey Show.^[10] McGraw helped bring McKenna to Warner Bros. Nashville in 2007 and produced her album, Unglamorous.^[9] Following the lackluster sales, she parted ways with Warner Bros. She went on to sign with Universal Music Group Publishing in 2009 and independently released her next album Lorraine in 2011.^[9]

Since then, McKenna has become “one of the industry’s most in-demand songwriters.”^[11] She has written songs for artists including Sara Evans, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban.^[10] She wrote 10 songs that made it to the Billboard Hot Country list, including Hunter Hayes’s “I Want Crazy,” Faith Hill’s “Stealing Kisses,” Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind,” and Little Big Town’s “Your Side of the Bed,” “Sober,” and “Girl Crush.”^[12]

Although her early songs were exclusively self-written, McKenna has become accustomed to working with others after being introduced to Nashville's writing scene. One group she works with regularly is "the Love Junkies," with McKenna alongside songwriters Hillary Lindsay and Liz Rose. The three meet once a month to create new songs. The group wrote the song "Girl Crush" and played it for Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town.^[9] The two made it into a single and the song received Grammy nominations for both Song of the Year and Best Country Song, winning the latter in 2016.^[3] The song was also nominated for Song of the Year Song at the Academy of Country Music Awards,^[13] and won Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.^[14]

McKenna won another Grammy the next year for Best Country Song for "Humble and Kind" performed by Tim McGraw.^[15] McKenna wrote the song as "lullaby, guidebook, and tribute" to her five children.^[9] The song was named Song of the Year at the 2016 CMA Awards^[9] and won favorite country song at the American Music Awards that same year.^[4] In 2017, "Humble and Kind" was nominated for Song of the Year and Single Record of the Year at the ACM Awards. McKenna was named Songwriter of the Year at the ACM's that same year.^[16]

McKenna has received critical acclaim for her most recent album, The Bird and the Rifle. The album was produced by Dave Cobb and was nominated for Best Americana Album at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, and the single "Wreck You" was nominated for Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance.^[17] McKenna was nominated for the 2017 Americana Music Awards Artist of the Year.^[18] Her 10th studio album, The Tree, was also produced by Dave Cobb and was released in summer 2018 through Thirty Tiger Records.^[19]

In 2015, McKenna was signed to a management and publishing deal with Creative Nation, a Nashville-based company owned and operated by songwriter Luke Laird and his wife Beth.^[9]

Discography

Studio albums

Songwriting

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website


• Lori McKenna: An 'Unglamorous' Star Is Born : NPR Music


• 
  Lori McKenna Live in Studio from WGBH Radio Boston