Sign-up and post on iBerkshires today.It's Free!
Already a member? Log In

 Make us your homepage!
59°  H- 82%
The Berkshires online guide to events, news and Berkshire County community information.
Send news, tips, press releases and questions to info@iBerkshires.com
 
Enter your email address to
receive our FREE Newsletter

July 30, 2010
Noteworthy
TOP STORIES AROUND THE COUNTY

Songwriter Lori Mckenna to perform at Railway Café

12:00AM / Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Print | Email |

Lori McKenna will perform at the Railway Cafe in North Adams on December 13
American roots often take hold where you least expect it. While Nashville continues to churn out its homogenized brand of country music, singer-songwriters like Lori McKenna naturally and effortlessly find their way to the beautiful homespun sound of a strummed acoustic guitar, coupled with an honest voice with a touch of twang.

McKenna will perform at the Railway Cafe in North Adams on Saturday, December 13 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance, $14 at the door, $10 for seniors & students.

McKenna, a 32 year-old mother of four whose love of music and performing had her taking the stage well into the last trimester of her most recent pregnancy, isn’t from South Carolina, southern Mississippi, or even southern California. No, McKenna was born and raised on the south shore of Massachusetts, just a stone’s throw from where she now lives, writes, and raises her four kids in Stoughton, Massachusetts.

In 1999, she was chosen to play on Lilith Fair, won a Boston Music Award, and appeared at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival. Perhaps it was her mother passing away when McKenna was six years old that propelled her in the direction of the expressive arts, or maybe it’s just another case of American roots taking hold in an off-the-beaten-path town or city.

Because, while McKenna grew up listening to the radio music of the day (The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” remains one of her favorite songs to cover), the music she penned at her kitchen table, after the kids had been sent off to school, had Country Music International heralding her as “Just what you’d hope for in a new artist. . . she deserves to become one of the most sought after musical ingénues of the day.”

McKenna eventually sold over 9000 copies of her debut CD Paper Wings and Halo, mostly from the stage after her shows. But Paper Wings, with all its hard-won beauty and simplicity was just a beginning. Pieces of Me, her debut on Catalyst Disc, a Signature Sounds Recordings imprint, is where the promise of Paper Wings is realized.

McKenna, for the first time, fleshes out the arrangements with the production help of Crit Harmon (Martin Sexton, Mary Gauthier) and a seasoned group of players, including drummer Billy Beard (Patty Griffin, Kim Richey), bassist Mike Rivard (Morphine, Jonatha Brooke), guitarist David Goodrich (Rose Polenzani, Peter Mulvey), and friends and guests that includes Richard Shindell, Ellis Paul, Jennifer Kimball, Kris Delmhorst, and Meghan Toohey.

The disc marks the arrival of a powerful new American voice, a “harrowingly intimate” songwriter with the eye for detail of a Lucinda Williams or Roseanne Cash, and a singer who isn’t afraid to draw deeply from the well of the everyday life she’s continually immersed in. “Mars,” the disc’s gentle yet gutsy opening cut, finds her celebrating everything from the mundane (the hole wearing through the fabric of her couch) to the fantastic, as she ponders the reflection of Mars in her son’s eyes and listens to him promise that “I’m gonna get there some day.”

It’s the kind of soulfully captured moment that songwriters, filmmakers, and storytellers can only hope to stumble upon, but for McKenna it’s just another of dozens of striking images torn directly from the rich fabric of a life fully lived.

Lori is currently recording her next project, due to be released on Signature Sounds in the Spring of 2004.
Your Comments
Post Comment
No Comments

RECENT STORIES



MOST VIEWED STORIES | MOST COMMENTS
iBerkshires.com Text Ads
thecolonialtheatre.org
www.steakseafood.com
www.andruspowersolutions.com
www.williamsinn.com
Advertise on iBerkshires.com




More Posts







 
View All
Pittsfield Colonials
Berkshire Young Professionals Night at Wahconah Park in...
Susan B. Days 2010
The annual Susan B. Anthony Street Fair in Adams on Monday...
2010 Hometown Heroes
The SteepleCats honored local military and public service...
Carousel Ride
Berkshire Chamber of Commerce networked Wednesday night at...
Clark Hosts Bluegrass Band
Blackstone Valley Bluegrass Band performs on the lawn of...
Labbee Basketball Program
The Dana Labbee Summer Basketball Program kicked off on...
Team Canada vs SteepleCats
Team Canada played a game against North Adams SteepleCats...
A Weekend in Williamstown
(Photos by Staff)
Eagle Street Beach Party
The annual Eagle Street Beach Party in North Adams brought...
Al Giorgi Summer Basketball...
Al Giorgi Summer Basketball League is played at Noel Field...
Legion Baseball
Pittsfield Tyler Aces vs Sheffield Post 340 at Clapp Park....
Berkshire County Heat Wave
(Photos by Seth Shepard)
Williamstown July 4th Parade
The Williamstown 4th of July Parade 2010 winding up Route 2...
Pittsfield Fourth of July...
The city of Pittsfield, 2010 Fourth of July parade took...
Baseball For All
Boys & Girls Baseball at Duquette Sports Academy in...
12U Cal Ripken All-Star
Lee/Lanesboro defeated Williamstown by the score 6 to 4 at...
Pittsfield Colonials
Berkshire Young Professionals Night at Wahconah Park in...
Susan B. Days 2010
The annual Susan B. Anthony Street Fair in Adams on Monday...
2010 Hometown Heroes
The SteepleCats honored local military and public service...
Carousel Ride
Berkshire Chamber of Commerce networked Wednesday night at...
Clark Hosts Bluegrass Band
Blackstone Valley Bluegrass Band performs on the lawn of...
Plus...


| Home | A & E | Business | Community News | Dining | Real Estate | Schools | Sports & Outdoors | Berkshires Weather | Weddings | Berkshires Map |
Advertise | Recommend This Page | Help Contact Us | Privacy Policy| User Agreement
iBerkshires.com is owned and operated by: Boxcar Media 106 Main Sreet, P.O. Box 1787 North Adams, MA 01247 -- T. 413-663-3384 F.413-663-3615
© 2008 Boxcar Media LLC - All rights reserved