Lori McKenna with Dietrich Strause at the me&thee

My name is Lori McKenna.  I am releasing my 6th full-length studio record in April 2013.  It is called MASSACHUSETTS. I'm a housewife and a townie.  I am a songwriter  or song chaser depending on the day.  A song can be a tricky thing  no matter how simple it is.  And most songs have a tendency to haunt me. But I believe that blessings come in disguise and that demons do too.  And that, if we work it out right, our demons can be our blessings.

The long version of the short story is that I've been writing songs since I was a kid.  I grew up in a loving and musical family.  I got married when I was 19.  We have a bunch of kids.  When I was 27 someone talked me into playing at a local open mic.   By then we had 3 of our 5 kids and those kids unknowingly gave me just enough confidence to try something so out of character.  The problem was  Boston has a tremendously nurturing music scene, and I fell hard in love with it  and they let me in. So I put out some records.  I played shows.  Faith Hill and Tim McGraw championed my little songs and I made some more records.  I was on Oprah with Faith.  I played the Grand Ole Opry.  I played stadiums and clubs and church basements.  And along the way I had a number of people hold me up and help me out.

The short version of the long story is that music has provided me with some of the most important and meaningful relationships in my life.  I wanted to make a record with some of those people who have been part of my musical life since it's very beginning.  It was time to make a record in the community of musicians that gave me the opportunity to learn who I am as a songwriter.

My last three recordings were made in Nashville, Tennessee.  I love Nashville deeply and if Stoughton, Massachusetts wasn't embedded in my soul  I would most certainly live there.  But I can't NOT be here  in my home state  I need to walk on cobblestone every now and then and sit in traffic and look up at the Prudential Building and think of my father working for Boston Edison for 42 years.  I need to unfold a Boston Globe on Sunday morning and rejoice in the announcement of a snow day.  I live on Dunkin Donuts coffee and Town Spa pizza.  I speak the language.  And most importantly I know that some of the best musicians in the world live here.  And I have the privilege to play with them. 

There is the darkness and there is the light:  I am drawn to sad songs.  I want to make you feel something.  I don't necessarily want you to see it coming.  I'd like the feeling to surprise you.  I think those moments make us feel alive.  Make us feel human.  Everybody has a sad song in their lives.  We all have reasons to sit at kitchen tables under the buzz of that light above the sink.  We all have a patch of floor for pacing.  We all hold onto something we should let go of.  Everybody has a story and every story should have a song.

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Dietrich Strause 

"Strause's voice is mellifluous; his sound has traces of a young Paul Simon mixed with that Josh Ritter Midwestern wanderlust."  Rich Kassirer, Modern Acoustic

"He writes poignantly about romance, innocence and the opposite poles of country vs. city life. a first-rate lyricist"  Steve Morse, former music critic at the Boston Globe

"The songs are beautiful and moving. His subjects and sincere, stripped-down delivery call up all of the modern legends of song craftJeff Tweedy, Ryan Adams, and Jim Jamesand the sentiments linger for days, the ashtray always nearby."  Jeff Wallace, My Secret Boston

"Dietrich's intricate, feathery-light guitar playing and smooth, clear vocals bring him aesthetically closer to folk than lit-rock, strictly speaking, but lyrically, his bibliophilic style is reminiscent of poetry-prose artists like The Weakerthans or The Decemberists. 'Smart' music can sometimes run the risk of coming off erudite and snobbish, but Dietrich seems like the boy next door who breathes clean, country air."  The New England Deli Magazine