Editors: Sara Lesher; Erik Lutkins; Jesse Chrisman.
Photographers: Michael Wilson ; Andrew Southam.
Lori McKenna's career was comfortably on the fringe of the folkie singer-songwriter scene until Faith Hill covered several of her songs and began talking up the unassuming New Englander on television interviews. Signing to a major label and accepting help from Nashville hitmakers like songwriter Liz Rose (who co-wrote the title song) and Hill's husband, Tim McGraw (who co-produced the album), gives UNGLAMOROUS a more glossy, radio-friendly sound. However, McKenna's strength of personality shines through: rather than adopting a new persona, she stays true to her own life as a low-key, middle-class housewife and mother who happens to write and record hit songs. Tunes like "Witness To Your Life," "I Know You," and "Your Next Lover" are fine additions to McKenna's canon, and on the quietly intense autobiographical closer, "Leaving This Life," about her mother's death, she reveals more naked emotion than a whole publishing company full of Music Row songwriters.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.72) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[McKenna] boasts a perky, sharp twang reminiscent of Dixie Chick Natalie Maines. She also has a gift for detailed storytelling..."
Entertainment Weekly (p.71) - "'Witness to Your Life' and the title track are two of the most engaging pop paeans to mature, married love you've ever heard." -- Grade: A-
