Songwriter extraordinaire, Lori McKenna, was born Lorraine Giroux in 1968 in Stoughton, Massachusetts, a sleepy suburban town of about 30,000 residents south of Boston. Today, this award-winning singer-songwriter could afford to live in Beverly Hills, and yet she still resides in Stoughton. The still girlish-looking 52-year-old mother of five married Gene McKenna when she was just 19. Perhaps one thing that is rather unique about this country star to people in Nashville, but not even noticed by those of us who live in this part of the country, is her regional accent. The Grand Ole Opry is indeed a very long way from Stoughton, Massachusetts, and McKenna’s New England inflections still bleed through in many of her songs.

Back in the day, her initial foray into the music business was not an easy undertaking. Her albums weren’t all that successful until in 2007, she broke through with “Unglamorous,” which climbed to the top of the charts. If her early albums were not blockbusters, her amazing gift as a songwriter was cemented by top tier country artists who she wrote for like Keith Urban, Little Big Town, winning McKenna Best Country Song of the Year for “Girl Crush, in 2016, and again in 2017 with her song “Humble and Kind,” a monster hit for Tim McGraw, also saw her take home the Best Country Song of the Year award. Back in 2005, McGraw’s wife, country superstar Faith Hill, covered three of McKenna’s songs on an album lifting her from being an unknown Massachusetts singer, who performed at local venues on open mic night, to becoming a sought-after songwriter by the country music elite.

Simply put, the woman is an extraordinary songwriter who pens compositions that have a knack for morphing their way deep inside you. Like the whisper-soft caress of an evening breeze that brushes your cheek like a ghost, they kind of sneak up on you. When you listen to her songs, it’s as though she somehow drills a hole into your mind and shines a light on all of those hopes, wishes, longings, fears and dreams that hide deep inside of all of us. Often writing in a simple and unadorned style, McKenna is that artist who, through her songs, shows you pictures of yourself, and also of the people in your own life. You can see them clearly in her lyrics. With simple words, she is able to hold up a mirror to us that reflects the eternal realities of life. Her lyrics instill in us the reality that no matter how old or grown up we become, at heart, we will remain forever, our mother’s babies.

“The Balladeer” is McKenna’s 11th studio album, and her most personal and introspective work to date. She has said that she drew a good share of her inspiration for its theme from her experiences as a wife and mother, and as a daughter caring for her aging parents. The love, caring and devotion to her family that forms the bedrock of her life is the nucleus of 10 songs that, in their way, will seep into your brain, and bring you close to tears. At its core, this album is an outcropping of deep emotion, feelings and an expression of domestic sentiments tempered by the aging process. In the end, it is a collection of songs that solidify Lori McKenna’s reputation as one of today’s outstanding musical artists.

The album opens with “This Town is a Woman,” a song that appears to be gender-influenced, and that makes a strong statement with lyrics like

“She has a rough side where she buries all her scars

And the freedom of a child in the midnight dark

All the crooked roads will only lead you home

This town is a woman.”

The title song, “The Balladeer,” is a touching look back on the journey of a fictitious small background balladeer who struggles to finally become a great music star. McKenna’s lyrics glow with the reflection and wisdom of her age, and the life lessons that she has learned along the way.

“From her heart and let it shine like gold

Felt the angels pouring mercy on her soul

And the weight of the world, she let it go

And she sang for the first time with her head held high and so much pride”

This album is very definitely not one that was crafted to generate a big flavor of the month top 40 hit. At its core, it offers the listener a slice of real life. From the intimate mother’s anthem, “Till You’re Grown,” to the reflective and poignant “When you’re My Age,” there’s not a weak song on it. From start to finish, “The Balladeer” is a vehicle that showcases not only McKenna’s own life by painting a poignant portrait of a loving mother, wife and daughter, it also shows us a vivid, and sometimes stark, picture of the lives of women everywhere. Be they mothers, daughters, wives, sisters or friends, “The Balladeer” finds McKenna ruminating on the many different roles that women play in their daily lives. McKenna definitely gets better and better with each new album, and this latest offering is an absolute gem that shows one of the most gifted singer-songwriters at the zenith of her career.

Paul Collins is a freelance writer from Southborough, Massachusetts.

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