Album Review- Lori McKenna’s “The Tree”
Mother of five Lori McKenna from Stoughton, Massachusetts is saving country music. You no longer have any legitimate license to say, “Oh, I’ve heard the name. Isn’t she a songwriter or something?” and consider yourself and enlightened music fan. Brushing Lori McKenna off is brushing off one of the greatest living songwriters of our generation, right up there with whatever field of heavyweights you want to amass as challengers or contemporaries. Just as we mourn the loss of songwriters gone by and wonder aloud who will ever be capable of filling their shoes, future generations will say the same of Lori McKenna.
The shadows that beset even the best songwriters as behind-the-scenes players in popular music are no longer suitable to shroud Lori McKenna. Luckily her now two CMAs and two Grammy Awards have helped dispel some of the obscurity that surrounds those in her profession, but there’s still that sense that she’s a songwriter for others, even if she’s a well-regarded one, and one of the bright spots in the sea of mediocrity that is the mainstream. Oh, you mean Lori McKenna actually sings songs and releases records herself as well? Well yes. Yes she does.
If you wanted a keen insight into American life, you could burn a weekend weaving in and out of documentaries on middle America and small town sociology. Or you could put on Lori McKenna’s The Tree, and gain way more enlightenment into the emotional ties that make life in American households truly tick. Lori McKenna’s gift is the way she canonizes common people, the cycles of life, and soliloquizes the shifting of time as the most meaningful and eloquent elements living souls ever encounter. She exposes the mystique and meaning in simple duties, how when you make a meal or sweep a floor, it’s not a mundane chore unworthy of logging into memory, it’s one of the most sincere expressions of love, especially when it’s being performed by a mother.
Whether it’s the cutting of a frayed thread from a kitchen towel, flicking off a light switch in the hall, or taking inventory of a tinkerer’s cluttered workbench, Lori McKenna makes it all feel so poetic. This is us, and no, it’s not patently dull. It is all coded in the magic that is our lives, and it’s all delivered with biting clarity and a little bit of sorrow in understanding it’s all just a smaller part in a bigger picture—that we will become our parents, our children will become us, and the cycle of life continues as the paint of houses wears away, and wrinkles envelop our skin.
Taking the little thoughts that waft in and out of the mind of a busy mother every day and making them into mountains of insight and wisdom is how Lori McKenna has become one of the most respected songwriters in all of the mainstream, as well as an independent music demigod. There is no musical divide running down the middle of Lori McKenna’s music like there is the rest of the country business. She is a consensus candidate for crafting the songs that unite us all through universal human experiences. Man or woman, mother or father, conservative or liberal, capitalist or intellectual, we all suffer from the sorrows she exposes, and benefit from the wisdom she imparts.
Just like her Grammy-nominated last record The Bird and the Rifle from 2016, Lori McKenna’s new record The Tree was produced by Dave Cobb. Along with the insight into life it uncovers, The Tree confirms Lori McKenna’s prowess not just as a top-caliber songwriter, but as an incredibly prolific one, almost unfair in how she can craft such musical contributions from a kitchen table in a Boston suburb after the kids have gone to bed, while so many others struggle to turn in even one or two songs of the same caliber as they sweat behind an Ibanez and scratch at a legal pad for hours on end.
Lori McKenna’s role as a mother doesn’t burden her songwriting career, it enhances it. It’s the fertile soil from where her creativity springs. They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person, and nobody is more busy than a mother, and few if any are as productive without sacrificing quality as Lori McKenna. Selecting out the songs of The Tree and talking about them specifically almost feels unclean, like asking a mother who their favorite child is. All the songs of The Tree are special in their own little ways, while Dave Cobb’s touch and the work of the session players is worthy of the compositions, knowing how and when to get out of the way of Lori McKenna’s words, and when to rise to enhance them.
A mother first and a songwriter second, Lori McKenna makes for an inspiring listening experience, and an inspiring specimen of human resolve. If she can live out her dreams from a house Stoughton, Massachusetts, scratching out opportunities wherever she can between songwriting trips to Nashville and short-run tours and still turn in contributions like The Tree, then we all can find the perseverance of a mother to be the best for ourselves, and for all the others who depend on us.
9/10
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July 20, 2018 @ 9:18 am
Nice review. Can’t wait to listen to this. The Bird & The Rifle is incredible, so I’m glad they brought Brian Allen back to play bass and that Dave Cobb produced again. Bird & the Rifle is an album I would point someone to if you want to hear what an album made by humans should sound like (IMO). Not only sonically, but the feel from great musicians playing (brilliantly written) songs – live – is irreplaceable.
July 20, 2018 @ 9:56 am
What I want to see is the next crop of females she inspires, because we need her type of sensibilities for future female artists.
July 20, 2018 @ 10:18 am
As a Massachusetts native (grew up not too far from Stoughton) this makes me very happy!
July 20, 2018 @ 10:35 am
I agree wholeheartedly. I have been a fan of Lori’s for some time now. I have never understood why she doesn’t receive the broad scale attention some of her contemporaries do. Her lyrics are thought provoking, and intimate, in a way that most can understand. There is always an underlying earthiness, and heart that can only be deciphered through a familiar experience or pensive reflection.. Thanks for sharing this review.
December 5, 2018 @ 9:00 am
A female John Prine, perhaps. He too never received the share of critical acclaim he deserved up until recently.
July 20, 2018 @ 10:58 am
Despite having two Grammy Awards, Lori McKenna is criminally underrated. I’m guilty of overlooking her myself. However, The Tree is full of stories about everyday life that are profound and relatable with details that illuminate nooks and crannies that you weren’t even aware of.
Dave Cobb is hit or miss with his work nowadays, but this is a definite hit in the production arena. These wonderful songs have space to breathe and live. I definitely agree with the 9/10 rating.
July 20, 2018 @ 11:45 am
When Natalie Hemby looks up to a songwriter, you know they’re worth their salt
July 20, 2018 @ 12:01 pm
The Holy Trinity – Brandy Clark, Courtney Patton, and Lori McKenna.
December 5, 2018 @ 9:02 am
The last holy trinity of female singer songwriters were the Three J’s: Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell. Their music all went beyond genre classification.
July 20, 2018 @ 1:15 pm
It’s really a wonderful collection of songs. My favorite thus far is “You Don’t Even Know I’m Gone” and “Happy People.
But at first I completely misinterpreted “You Don’t Even Know I’m Gone”. I thought It had same theme as Dolly’s “To Daddy”. But I wasn’t sure so I played again while looking at the lyrics. But I still couldn’t figure it out.Then I read a review at NPR. which said that it was about being a mother on road and at same time caring for her family…
A quote from that review:
“…for many songwriters, singing about making babies seems to be more interesting than telling the truth about what it takes to raise one. Lori McKenna is no such songwriter…” 🙂
July 20, 2018 @ 3:36 pm
Yes — love her recording of “Happy People”! 😀 I’m also partial to “A Mother Never Rests,” “The Fixer,” and “People Get Old,” “Young and Angry Again.”
July 20, 2018 @ 1:35 pm
Lyrically, I agree with you completely. She has a way of turning simple things and task into poetic verses and rhymes. I was a big fan of The Bird and the Rifle for that reason, and this shows more of that genius. That being said, I think the production here is what I can’t get 100% behind. The first three songs on the album sound almost identical. I hadn’t realized three songs had passed when I was listening. The production does have some bright spots; songs like the Tree, You Won’t Even Know I’m Gone and The Lot Behind St Mary’s show that. With songwriters sometimes you can get away with that because of the strength of their lyrics, but I think because of the sonic similarities between some of these songs and even songs on her last album I can’t give this album so much acclaim.
July 20, 2018 @ 3:58 pm
That’s because Cobb just copies and pastes everything he does. There’s going to end up being an entire generation of music that could have been good, but ended up all sounding like the same damn song. Retire already dude.
July 20, 2018 @ 6:15 pm
I’ve seen that complaint about him more than once and of course it’s a subjective thing so there is no right and wrong.
I’m not an expert on every producer under the sun, but most that I do know have some basic consistency in their philosophy and style from record to record. Dave Cobb’s style is minimalistic and old-school, relying more on the songs and performance…which to me is way better than the opposite. Overproduced, over-comped, over-edited, and over-compressed records sound like shit to me. So, personally I’m happy that he keeps applying his “copy and paste” formula.
Also, the overall sound of this record in general seems more upbeat and up tempo from her last one. Substantially different as well, is the lack of Mellotron, which is all over the last one (which fit better with the slower and sparser arrangements). So that aspect isn’t copy and paste at all. Finally, I wouldn’t blame producers for songs sounding the same unless their name is repeatedly in the writing credits and by the same token I wouldn’t give them too much credit for a song being good either. Yes it’s great when great songs are produced well, but I like plenty of songs that weren’t ruined by bad production either. The song & performance is everything, to me at least anyway.
July 20, 2018 @ 5:15 pm
If you mistake track 2 for track 3, i…. don’t know what to really say.
July 20, 2018 @ 6:45 pm
Yeah, i dont get all the recent criticisms regarding ‘production’. Did all of Phil Specter’s productions sound the same? Sure, there’s a common thread there but ultimately it comes down down to the instruments and the hands playing them.
July 20, 2018 @ 8:50 pm
As someone who has criticized Dave Cobb’s production in the past, I think it is fine to good on this record. Frankly you don’t notice it, which is the best type of production.
July 20, 2018 @ 9:22 pm
That’s a good way to put it, for the most part. I’m probably more aware of it because I spent time in the industry, but I notice his production immediately because it sounds more real than most of the shit out there. In perspective: Most engineers and producers have a tendency to do as much as they can to impart their sound on a record, so that they can stand out from the herd. Plus the technology these days makes it so easy to over-perfect everything. Most mainstream producers cut and chop and tune almost every note of a song, and replace every drum with a sample, to the point that it’s more manufactured than organic. Not to mention the endless amount of takes and then comping that takes place and every effort made to make the song as “loud” as possible. Is that music? You can hear that on any pop or bro/pop-country song. There is pressure from a lot of directions to make albums sound like that. From record companies, labels, etc. Here comes Dave Cobb and says fuck that, I’m going to make records like they used to. Less microphones, less overdubs, more microphone bleed, more organic sound, and live PERFORMANCE. We take him for granted now because he’s made so many records by a lot of artists that we like…but going against the inertia of the industry like he did when he was less known, took some courage. And…the artists themselves seem to love what he does, as they seem to be the ones (not the labels)that want to work with him. That in and of itself, speaks volumes.
July 21, 2018 @ 4:34 am
Ive listened to this album maybe a dozen times now and i swear it gets better each time. There has definitely been a bumper crop of top knotch releases this year and we havent even gotten to Cody Jinks/Whitey Morgan/Ward Davis stuff yet. Deciding Album of the Year is going to be quite the task.
July 21, 2018 @ 7:33 am
Damn shame she is not being played on regular rotation on terrestrial radio instead of Bebe Rexha, Maren Morris, Kelsea Ballerini, and the other wannabes.
July 21, 2018 @ 8:26 am
I love her writing, I love her voice but if we’re going to be honest Lori looks too much like a housewife and mother to make it big. Unfortunately talent alone isn’t enough to make you stand out.
July 21, 2018 @ 9:59 am
A lot of truth to that, and as you say, unfortunately. But I also think there’s a few more things working against her:
-She doesn’t try to “modernize” her sound.
-Her music seems to be her emphasis instead of marketing.
-People’s attention spans are shorter by the day. Her music is more slow burn.
I often wonder what we would all LISTEN to if we could only LISTEN (not identify with images and videos).
July 21, 2018 @ 10:05 am
All good points. I wonder where she would be if she had a better marketing team and image consultant behind her earlier in her career.
July 21, 2018 @ 11:07 am
Maybe she’s as famous as she wants to be. After all, she has 5 kids.
July 21, 2018 @ 11:47 am
I don’t think she cares about making it big. In the songwriting world, she already has and them some. She’s about as big as it gets. There are songwriters, there are artists, and there are entertainers. I think part of what makes Lori McKenna appealing to her fans is the fact that she is a mother, and can still have a very successful career with mainstream impact.
July 21, 2018 @ 12:36 pm
I agree with everything you just said. However we weren’t debating “if” she “wants” to be big. We were discussing “why” she isn’t.
Personally, I prefer when the music is the end, not the means. Clearly her music is the end.
July 21, 2018 @ 1:38 pm
I might be on the wrong trac here but are artists really happy to just to settle with the fans they have or do they like most people want something bigger for their lives?
Maybe Lori is happy with what she’s achieved but I still feed that she might be getting overlooked because she doesn’t have an edge to her.
July 21, 2018 @ 2:24 pm
wtf does “looking like a mother” even mean?
That’s some sexist shit, and i really don’t play the S card very much.
July 21, 2018 @ 3:16 pm
I’d like to think that was said partially as a comment on society (why the word “unfortunately” was used), but I agree that it wasn’t the best choice of words.
Personally, I don’t think she or her “background” could be any cooler. It’s great seeing people do awesome things that you may not have expected. I try to write, and sometimes catch myself thinking I don’t have enough time, and I don’t have any kids, let alone 5! She’s an inspiring badass.
July 21, 2018 @ 3:32 pm
He only said unfortunately ’cause he said it’s not just talent that makes you famous… which is true… but he still said she couldn’t be because she looks like a mother and a housewife. Jesus lord, what the fuck does that even mean?! Secondly… Lori is really attractive, anyway.
July 21, 2018 @ 3:48 pm
Fair enough… like I said, bad choice of words and I would never say that or even think that myself. But speaking of the “S”card…. do you know for a fact that TxMusic is male, as you keep saying “he?” Not trying to be a dick or say that it would change anything – just curious. Maybe you do know, from a different post….?
July 21, 2018 @ 6:35 pm
Yes it’s a dude
July 21, 2018 @ 8:26 pm
You’re so quick to get outraged that you actually brought Lori’s looks into when nobody else did.
There’s a big difference between physical looks and a marketable look. Lori is an attractive woman but the way she is styled doesn’t make her stand out. Again that’s her choice but only an idiot, to quote you, will confuse the two.
July 21, 2018 @ 6:15 pm
Oh good grief, grow the hell up. If this kind of thing “offends” you then you have quite a miserable life ahead of you. Congrats on finding something new to be offended by though. Was that your goal this morning?
July 21, 2018 @ 6:34 pm
You’re a moron.
July 21, 2018 @ 8:34 pm
I see on your new twitter account your new persona is BMI songwriter. So many talents!
July 21, 2018 @ 9:08 pm
That’s what I do.
July 22, 2018 @ 8:11 am
Uh huh.
July 22, 2018 @ 11:20 pm
Tell that to Chris Stapleton and Adele
July 23, 2018 @ 5:02 am
Lori McKenna is not unique. There are innumerable incredibly talented musicians, poets, novelists, painters etc quietly and compulsively perfecting their craft while living otherwise ‘normal’ lives. They might bag your groceries, or program your computer, or hand you your new registration at the DMV. Nobody knew who Emily Dickinson was until years after her death. Arguably the greatest American poet, assigned reading in schools the world over, who during her lifetime was just someone seen occasionally wandering around her garden. A nobody. But not, right?
July 23, 2018 @ 7:51 am
I understand what you are saying, not everybody gets famous. But if you are going to say someone is not unique, you might NOT want to site an example of someone that is different in the following ways:
-Wasn’t in the same field. I think it’s safe to say if someone here says she’s unique, they are talking about in music.
-Was reclusive and isolated.
-Wrote in a style that had to be changed by her publisher for the time.
-Wasn’t a housewife with 3 kids before she squeezed in the time to developed her craft
-Lived almost a century and a half prior.
-The overwhelming bulk of her work wasn’t even available to the public during her life (if that’s true of Lori I will be buying the 50 disc box set some day).
On the either hand, if you can cite some of the innumerable every day people [music) artists not yet discovered, that are as talented as Lori, I’m all ears. Not to prove you wrong, but so that I can immediately check them out 🙂 Because, unlike in Dickinson’s time, the people bagging groceries can share their music with the entire world for free. I don’t think Lori is the only person throughout history to do what she’s doing, but right now, in music, I personally find her relatively unique.
July 23, 2018 @ 10:46 am
Get a SoundCloud account and you won’t have to dig too deep to find a ton of people as talented as Lori McKenna who relatively few people know about. I’m not saying that Lori McKenna isn’t a talented songwriter. I’m just saying that as a participant in the DIY music scene since the early 90’s I know a lot of very talented songwriters who nobody may ever hear of. I’m not going to give out names because I don’t feel right using Triggers comment section to promote anyone but seriously, SoundCloud.
July 23, 2018 @ 12:50 pm
Very familiar with Soundcloud and Bandcamp. In fairness, maybe we weren’t talking about the same thing with the word “unique.” Pretty much every story about Lori is about how she was/is a busy housewife who had 3 kids before she started going to open mics and developing her craft. I think for someone in her position, becoming an incredible songwriter (and recognized for it) and also an awesome artist of her calibre is pretty unique. Either way no point in circling around that word any further.
People talk about artists they like here all the time. If there are people as good as Lori sitting completely undiscovered on Soundcloud, I don’t think anyone would mind you pointing us to a few of them. I’ve found lot’s of music through the comments section here and haven’t seen Trigger bothered by that. Perhaps he can clarify if he is.
July 23, 2018 @ 9:36 am
I’m not on Lori’s level, but I write songs in my “free time”, and it’s easier to write more, better stuff when I have a lot going on. I think if you really enjoy writing, it will just flow out of you if you try to forget about it. Laundry, dishes, hauling kids around, working in the garage, etc., can all be fantastic sources of material and motivation. She’s obviously figured this out.
July 28, 2018 @ 8:32 am
I don’t she she figured it out as much as it’s just what she knows and who she is. Chris Lindsey recently did an interview with Lori on his Pitch List podcast. It’s worth a listen.
July 23, 2018 @ 11:31 am
Young and Angry Again is a radio song. Radio should play it. The only reason they wouldn’t play it is because a woman is singing it. Unfortunately, radio is flat out boycotting woman.
I believe this is true
Lori’s version: ignored by radio
Covered by Miranda Lambert: creeps into top 40 and disappears
Covered by Little Big Town: Top 15 hit, but only nine months after release.
Covered by Tim McGraw: Top 10 hit
Covered by Kenny Chesney: No. 1 song on Country Radio chart.
All these acts are talented, but it shows what kind of performers radio is playing and what kind of performers they are ignoring.
July 27, 2018 @ 5:52 pm
Great great year for women in Country/Americana.
August 3, 2018 @ 6:03 pm
Finally got my copy . This , to no one’s surprise I don’t think , is another terrific collection of songs by Lori .
To my ear , however, its been undermined by a muddy , lazy production and mix which all but buries her vocal throughout . The VOCALS. The SONGWRITER’S vocal . THE FUCKING WORDS . How the hell does THAT happen . There is no crispness, no presence to the mix . Its lifeless and washed out . The snare sounds like it was played on a cardboard box . The playing overall seems uninspired and rushed …no clever …no fresh …..no thought. How does someone with a track record like LM wind up with such a sub-par product sonically ?
I need to go and listen to Kacey’s Golden Hour or Carl Jackson’s work on Glen’s ADIOS to remind myself of just how easy it should be to listen to great songs produced and mixed with CARE and reverence . Shit this is disappointing
August 3, 2018 @ 6:13 pm
…..and I’m listening to this is my studio ….quality gear . I just wanna into the file and TURN OFF THE REVERB
August 3, 2018 @ 6:14 pm
…..and I’m listening to this is my studio ….quality gear . I just wanna reach into the file and TURN OFF THE REVERB
September 1, 2023 @ 7:12 pm
I’m only 5 years late to hearing ‘The Tree’ for the first time and I’m not sure what is better, this album or Trigs dissertation of what makes Lori McKenna one of the most prolific songwriters known to us.
I’m a little embarrassed to learn this only now, but I’m dumbfounded at her expression in these songs (with the help of some cowrites). And thank you Trig for the review, I’m sure you’re the only one that has been able to convey the magnitude of her writing.