Lori McKenna

Few songwriters have shaped the country charts as quietly as Lori McKenna, a folk and Americana writer who grew up in Stoughton, Massachusetts, and still lives there. Her songs often return to loss, most notably the death of her mother when she was seven, and she began by writing lullabies for her five children. Her route into performing ran through a 1996 open-mic night at the Old Vienna Kaffeehause in Westborough, where the organiser who heard her play became her informal manager and booked shows around Boston.

Much of her reach has come through songs written for others. McKenna co-wrote "Girl Crush" with Hillary Lindsey and Liz Rose for Little Big Town, and "Humble and Kind", recorded by Tim McGraw, won the Grammy for Best Country Song. She also co-wrote "Always Remember Us This Way" from the A Star Is Born soundtrack, which received a Song of the Year nomination at the 62nd Grammys. Her own albums have fared well too: The Bird and the Rifle, produced by Dave Cobb, drew critical acclaim, and The Balladeer, released in 2020 through CN Records and Thirty Tigers, was singled out by Robert Christgau as her most consistently strong album of a late-blooming career.