Lori Mckenna is a huge name within American country music. As a songwriter, she won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 2016 for co-writing Little Big Town’s hit single Girl Crush, which was also nominated for Song of the Year.

A year later, she again won the Grammy for Best Country Song for writing Humble And Kind, performed by Tim McGraw. She’s written with a huge range of artists, from Lady Gaga to LeAnn Rimes, and Alison Krauss to Carrie Underwood. She is very much part of the fabric of the contemporary country scene.

But she’s also a gifted performer in her own right. Her 2007 album Unglamourous and 2016’s The Bird And The Rifle both landed within the US Country top 20, the latter of which was hugely well received and was nominated for Best Americana Album at 59th annual Grammy Awards – her first nomination for one of her own albums.

The Balladeer is McKenna’s eleventh studio album and her first since 2018’s The Tree. Released through Creative Nation Records, it has been produced by long-time collaborator Dave Cobb, who has also worked with stars such as Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson.

From opening track This Town Is A Woman, it’s clear The Balladeer sees McKenna in a much happier place than she was when she created the more pensive and maudlin The Bird And The Rifle and The Tree. It’s a bright, airy, upbeat record for the most part, with Good Fight and Two Birds particularly jaunty, while title track and current single The Balladeer is a jangly number propelled along by a nice harmony.

The comforts and discomforts of family life and being a parent are a constant theme throughout and are expertly encapsulated through McKenna’s sharp lyrics. On When You’re My Age she sings: “Your daddy’s hands won’t feel so rough / And his fuse won’t seem so short / Running away won’t look like a cure / To anything that really hurts / That breakup ain’t gonna break you / It’s gonna sting a while no doubt / That tattoo will be stupid / You’ll thank your lucky stars that you chickened out”.

The Balladeer then is a polished and perfectly observed country record that highlights McKenna’s special talents as a songwriter, but also as a performer. She deserves plenty of recognition for both.

The Balladeer track list:

1. This Town Is A Woman (featuring 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 (featuring Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose)

9. Two Birds

10. Till You’re Grown

 country     singer-songwriter 

Watch the official video for The Balladeer here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.