Hit Songwriter Lori McKenna is ‘The Balladeer’ on New Album
Acclaimed songwriter Lori McKenna is gearing up for the release of an intimate new album, The Balladeer. The musician recently shared the project's first single, "When You're My Age," along with the record's track list and more details.
Described as McKenna's "most personal album" thus far, The Balladeer boasts 10 songs, seven of which she wrote solo. The remaining three tracks were written in collaboration with fellow revered songwriters Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey, who together with McKenna are known as the Love Junkies.
The Balladeer's opening song, "This Town Is a Woman," features Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman, while Lindsey and Rose are guest vocalists on "When You're My Age." Other titles on the project include "Stuck in High School" and "'Till You're Grown."
McKenna drew much of her inspiration for The Balladeer from her experiences as a mother and wife, as well as a daughter taking care of her aging parents. “I’m at the age now where you can see really well where you’re going, because you’re helping your parents and you’ve lived through what your kids are doing," she explains.
"It’s this weird emotional time where you’re like a bookkeeper, writing it all down, trying to make sense of it and add it all up somehow," McKenna adds.
The Balladeer will be released on July 24. It is McKenna's 11th studio album, beginning with her debut record in 2000. Her previous two works, 2018's The Tree and 2016's The Bird and the Rifle, were both met with critical acclaim, the former scoring a nomination for Album of the Year at the 2019 Americana Honors & Awards and the latter earning a Grammy Awards nod, for Best Americana Album, in 2017.
As a songwriter, McKenna is known for penning some of the most enduring hits to come out of Nashville over the past decade. Her most well-known (and most-awarded) songs include "Humble and Kind" by Tim McGraw and Little Big Town's "Girl Crush."
Lori McKenna, The Balladeer Tracklist:
1. "This Town Is a Woman" (feat. Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman)
2. "The Balladeer"
3. "Marie"
4. "The Dream"
5. "Uphill"
6. "Good Fight"
7. "Stuck in High School"
8. "When You’re My Age" (feat. Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose)
9. "Two Birds"
10. "‘Till You’re Grown"
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