While the casual radio listener may not know Lori McKenna‘s name, even the most infrequent FM fan would recognize her work. The award-winning songwriter has penned multiple mega-hits, including Little Big Town’s smash “Girl Crush” and Tim McGraw‘s latest No. 1, “Humble and Kind.” On July 29, McKenna will release an album of her own (her tenth), The Bird & The Rifle. McKenna, who lives in Massachusetts despite her Nashville success, chatted with Parade about her life as an artist, songwriter and working mom.
How would you describe The Bird & The Rifle?
I keep using the word “lush.” When we were recording, my husband was like, “Well, what does it sounds like?” I said, “It’s kind of lush.” He’d say, “What does that mean?” I’m like, “I don’t know, but there’s no other way to say it.” Not overthinking or over-picking. It’s just a group of songs that I played to Dave [Cobb] and plugged in to his world.
Dave Cobb has become the producer to work with, having produced Chris Stapleton’s Traveller and Jason Isbell’s More Than Free. Had you worked together before?
I didn’t know Dave very well. I had only met him one time before we went in the studio, but he’s one of those people that I felt like I knew right away–like I had known him a long time. I was very comfortable with him. The world that he’s created is very much in the moment, because he records live. The band that we used for this record, it was just me, Dave, a bass player and a drummer. It feels like a live show in a certain way because it was recorded live, but also because it all sounds like it was [recorded] on the same day, which obviously it wasn’t. He sort of captured this thing in his hand and that’s what it sounds like. A moment.
How has being a mom of five impacted your career? Does it change the way you write music?
My claim to fame! [Laughs.] I think it must. We had our oldest when we were 20, so I’ve been a mother longer than I was a human without kids. How I feel about sort of everything in the world is driven by how mothering has changed me as a person. As they get older–my oldest is 27 now–we get to see their stories and how they’re forming their lives. That’s inspirational in so many ways–to be able to so closely watch someone else tackle their life experience in the ways that they have. “Humble and Kind,” which was obviously written for my kids, or to my kids, is really the first song that’s 100 percent [for the kids]. It’s really nice to have that; this thing that they know is for them. I dropped my kids off at summer camp this morning and one of the counselors came up to me and said, “So-and-So, whenever he sees your daughter says, ‘Stay humble and kind, Meghan!’” You can imagine the way a kid would handle that, like, lay off, OK? So, I don’t know how much they like it, but it’s cool for me. [Laughs.]
Speaking of “Humble and Kind,” you and Tim McGraw both cut the song for your albums. How do the two versions differ?
The thing that, to me, is most interesting about that song is that I saw it as a very simple song: It’s a three chord progression and everything rhymes with the word kind, which is an easy word to rhyme with. It was the song I wrote at my dining room table for my kids. He saw it as such a bigger thing. He sent me an early edit of the video, and I’m like, Oh, my God, he’s talking about the whole world! I was talking to these five kids right here and he’s talking to the world. This is crazy! The fact that he was able to take something that I saw as this simple little thing and make such a moment out of it is remarkable to me.
Was there ever a question about putting the song on your album after he released it to such success?
I’ve been lucky enough to where the artists that I’ve worked with that have cut my songs, if I make a record, it doesn’t really get in their way. We have maybe a little bit of overlapping of audiences, but my audience is limited, to be quite honest, and usually I don’t get in their way. If it’s a big artist like Tim McGraw, I’m not really gonna get in his way if we both have a song on the records at the same time.
You’ve written songs for a star-studded list of performers. Do you have a wish list of artists you’d love to write for?
I think that probably every songwriter does. It’s funny, I’ll think, Oh my God if I could ever work with Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen…But then I think, I would never want to do that! It’s way too scary. But even when you find out someone [notable] heard a song that you wrote, that stuff still gets me.
The Bird & The Rifle is your tenth studio album. What would you tell the Lori McKenna recording her first album all those years ago?
I don’t think I knew anything back then. I was always surprised about everything along the way like, Man, I get to do this? I always say this–it’s so true–I feed music a little bit, but it always feeds me back so much more than what I give it. And it continues to do that. It really has. People will warn you along the way. You shouldn’t co-write, it’s gonna mess you up. Or, you shouldn’t go to Nashville, it’s gonna mess you up. And it hasn’t yet. It’s always surprised me with another great thing. As long as I keep trying, it keeps giving back to me. So, I guess maybe I’d be surprised that I’m still doing it.
The Bird & The Rifle is out Friday, July 29. McKenna’s “Wreck You” Tour dates are listed below.
July 22—Vienna, Virginia—Jammin Java
July 29—Nashville, Tennessee—City Winery
July 30—Atlanta, Georgia—City Winery
August 4—New York, New York—City Winery
August 13—Boston, Massachusetts—The Sinclair
August 19—Brownfield, Maine—Stone Mountain Arts Center
August 20—Plymouth, Massachusetts—Spire Arts Center
September 9—Northampton, Massachusetts—Iron Horse
September 10—Ogunquit, Maine—Jonathan’s
September 20-25—Nashville, Tennessee—AmericanaFest 2016
October 12—San Antonio, Texas—Tobin Center for the Arts
October 13—Austin, Texas—One World Theater
October 14—Houston, Texas—Dosey Doe
October 15—Dallas, Texas—Kessler Theatre
October 21—Los Angeles, California—Hotel Café
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