Lori McKenna show

I have been meaning to write a post about Lori McKenna since Andy and I went to see her (again!) last Thursday, but most things seem to take me a while lately.

Lori McKenna is a musician from Stoughton, MA whom I have grown to love (http://lorimckenna.com/). I first heard her folksy music when she was featured on Chronicle about five years ago (playing her guitar and singing while her baby was bouncing up and down in a little doorway jumper). Since then Andy and I have seen shows of hers at Club Passim in Harvard Square and even at the Paradise. She is an amazing songwriter and singer, and her musical career is truly a Cinderella story. A few years back some country stars (like Faith Hill and Sarah Evans) heard her music and started recording her songs. Since then she has toured with Faith Hill and Tim McGraw and has put out her first album on a major record label (although the four before that are truly amazing).

Imagine my surprise when we found that Lori was playing here in Charlotte (for what would actually be her first trip to NC). We were thrilled - my favorite local Boston artist here!! The show was far more mellow than the most recent one that we went to at the Paradise, and the crowd was far smaller, but Lori was awesome! I have to say that I wish she played some more of her older music, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her (and to Mark Erelli who plays with her but is a fantastic musician on his own http://www.markerelli.com from Cambridge, MA). Per Devin's request, I have recently put her Pieces of Me cd back in my car changer, since he was asking to hear the song "Mars". There is something truly adorable about hearing my four and a half year old singing, "I see Mars reflecting in my little boys brown eyes, and he says 'Mama I'm gonna get there someday. Mama I'm gonna get there someday'." Devin's other favorite on that album is the song "Fireflies" (which Faith Hill recorded), although Devin calls it "Peter Pan and Tinkerbell" because of the lyrics. I adore that song, but it reminds me more of my niece Brianna than of the boys. Alex however is partial to another song that Faith Hill recorded called "Stealing Kisses" which is on the Bittertown cd. Andy loves that our little Alex sings "I was stealing kisses from a boy. Now I'm begging affection from a man..." but I think its cute. Its funny how they can identify her voice now in other songs. I personally am partial to the song "Falter" these days (which is on both The Kitchen Tapes and Unglamorous), but actually would recommend any of her cd's. There is a little something amazing on each one that she has put out.