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Artist
Lori McKenna
12+ albums
singer-songwriterfolkfemale vocalistscountryamericana
about
Lori McKenna (née Lorraine Giroux, born December 22, 1968) is an American folk singer/songwriter. Her album releases to date include Paper Wings and Halo (2000), Pieces of Me (2001), The Kitchen Tapes (2004), Bittertown (2004), Unglamorous (2007), Lorraine (2011), and Massachusetts (2013). Lori McKenna’s first name is actually Lorraine. She is named after the mother she lost when she was only seven, but whose impact on Lori’s life reverberates to this day. In her sixth album, Lorraine, she considers the influence of her mother, who died at roughly the same age Lori is now, as well as her own place in relationship to her husband, family and community. It is her most personal album to date. On the title track, Lori thinks back to scenes she remembers from her childhood (or thinks she does: “Well I don’t know if this part is true/How memories lie the way they do”) and how they reflect on her mother’s character: hard working, uncomplaining, sacrificing and loving, despite the health challenges that would eventually take her from her family. Lori allows the small details to carry the story. She remembers her mother smiling and dancing to a Judy Garland Carnegie Hall concert recording: “She said her cousin had a balcony seat.” If you lean in closely, you see the portrait of Lorraine taking shape. Her mother found joy in the music and joy that someone close to her had been lucky enough to be there, but no hint of feeling deprived for not experiencing it herself. Lorraine’s place
