Lori McKenna

Lori McKenna is one of a growing band of modern artists who, having built up moderately successful independent musical careers outside the conventions of large labels, eventually became by seduced by the security, finance and publishing opportunities provided by the majors and succumbed to the temptations on offer. In McKenna's case it was the release of her critically acclaimed Bittertown album in 2004 coupled with the three of her songs being covered by Nashville star Faith Hill on Hill's 2005 album Fireflies which led to McKenna signing a deal with Warner Bros. In 2007 the album Unglamorous was released followed up by a publishing deal with Universal which provided McKenna with valuable exposure for her talents. Soon her songs were being recorded by established artists such as Vance Gilbert, Tim McGraw and Mandy Moore. Since then she has continued to write songs for high-calibre country acts such as Alison Krauss, Keith Urban and Hunter Hayes. A new deal signed with Creative Nation in 2015 brought McKenna together with Nashville producer Dave Cobb resulting in the 2016 album The Bird And The Rifle.