by Chris Cameron
Singer-songwriter, Lori McKenna, is going to write a How To book for aspiring songsmiths. "I keep teasing people, telling them that I'm going to write a book on how to become a travelling singer-songwriter," she says, on the phone from her home in Stoughton, Massachusetts. "First, you have to marry young so you can get someone to pay the bills every month."
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Okay,
so she's only joking about writing the book, but she did get married
eight years before she played her first open mic, and by that time
she was well on her way to raising a family.
McKenna, 33, has a cooler job than most of her peers. When this mother of four isn't at home writing music and playing with the kids, she's out on the road playing to packed theaters and coffeehouses around the northeast. Every 13-year-old strumming a guitar dreams of this job; it's a job that every 33-year-old sitting in a cramped office wishes they had. |
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McKenna's songs are hauntingly intimate and honest. In "Never Die Young," a song written for her mother, who died when she was six years old, McKenna writes: "I am the one who will never die young, I am a martyr and I cannot hide. But I'm not a winner, I'm just brilliantly bitter. I'm sealed by my skin, but broken inside."
Every track on "Pieces of Me" is an open door into a contemplative life in the suburbs. "Mars," the opening track, finds her pondering the reflection of Mars in her son's eyes and listens to him promise that "I'm gonna get there someday."
McKenna says that she is hooked to world news. On the song "Pink Sweater" she angrily addresses the murderers of James Byrd, Jr., a black Texan that was killed in a 1998 hate crime.
She sings with a touch of twang that makes her sound like New England's answer to Nanci Griffith or Lucinda Williams.
Below is a recent interview McKenna did over the phone from her home.
DreamsAwake: When did you begin to write music?
A: I started playing guitar when I was 13, and before that, I always wrote poetry and short stories. I took guitar lessons for about two years; one of my brothers told me that I should try to write a song and I thought that was way too difficult but I gave it a shot.
DA: So originally you tried to combine music with poetry?
A: Right, and then that became the driving force. If I hadn't been interested in songwriting at that point, I probably wouldn't have continued playing the guitar.
DA: Do you write to tell a story?
A: I'm not that great of a storyteller; I love writing melodies, and I kind of have a short attention span in that regard. As far as stories go, I think it's interesting when people put their own life into a song. If the story's not overly specific, then you can leave that window open to people where they can bring their own perspectives of life or love into the song; they might come away with something completely different than what I was writing about. I like movies and novels where the writers don't give the audience every single detail, because then you're blessed to your own imagination as to where you want to go. That's why I don't think I'm a great storyteller; I like to write, but I don't like to lay every detail out.
DA: I read somewhere that you wanted to write a novel when you were a teenager.
A: Yeah, I had this idea that I would write a novel by the time I was 16; actually, I have boxes of [stories] downstairs that never went anywhere (laughs). Maybe other writers are like this, but I don't know if you can write a novel if you don't know where it's going. With songs you can do that, and it's so easy to just change them. You start off with one [idea] and then it becomes a completely different [idea]. I don't know if you can do that with anything longer than a five-minute song.
DA: Why did you write every song on "Pieces of Me" in first person?
A: I think it's because I'm so egotistical (laughs). (Pause) I think it's easy to tell the story that way; a lot of the songs aren't about me. "Swallows Me Whole" is about alcoholism and drug addiction, and in my life I haven't had a problem with those things. But when I write, I like to jump inside the character's head. It also seems to affect people more directly when it's in first person.
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DA:
You were born and raised in Stoughton, Massachusetts? A: Right, I live in the same town I grew up in. My husband and I both live within a mile from our parents' homes; we grew up about a half-mile from each other. Our kids go to the elementary school that we both went to. DA: It's a small world. |
A: Yeah, and the world
gets smaller when you start driving around it, you know? It's like, now
that I've played in New York I start thinking, 'New York's only 3.5 hours
away, and Boston's only a half hour away, so why not go?'
DA: A few of the songs on "Pieces of Me" were written about family
members. "Never Die Young" is dedicated to your mother. And "Mars" is
about your son?
A: One of my kids was studying the Solar System at the time; we were driving
in the car and he said that he could see Mars; the song just popped into
my head. That almost never happens to me.
DA: So it seems like your family plays an important role in your songs?
A: Well, my family is such a huge part of my life. I come from a close-knit
family; I'm the youngest of six kids. I have four kids of my own, and
we live close to my parents. (Pause) I'm just one of those people that's
lucky enough to have a job that's also a hobby and a passion, but it also
warrants itself to relate to whatever's going on in my life. And the kids
don't necessarily inspire me to sit down and write a song; they change
the way I think about things and then that comes out through the songs.
DA: So the songs reflect where you are in this stage of your life?
A: Yeah. I mean, if I were an accountant then you just wouldn't see it.
I have all this poetic license, or whatever you call it; everybody has
their family or their loved one as a part of their life; I just happen
to have a career that's transparent, where you can see that.
DA: When you're writing, are there ever any moments when you resist
sharing a new song with audiences because the subject matter is too personal?
A: When I was learning to write songs I never had to worry about who heard
it because no one did have to hear it. At this point, the way I feel is
that I can write a song and just keep it for myself if it's too much.
I've really never had to edit anything I've written. I've gotten in trouble
over certain things that I've written, like "Pink Sweater." And sometimes
people will ask me, 'is that song ["Swallows Me Whole"] about this person?'
I might have one idea in my head and someone comes away with something
completely different. My husband is really good about understanding that
this is a creative outlet for me and everything I write isn't necessarily
true. I don't believe in capital punishment. "Pink Sweater" was written
the way it is because it was just one expression of how I thought about
something. And for the most part, people understand that.
DA: Well "Pink Sweater" has an angry feel to it, particularly because
you wrote it as if you're addressing Byrd's murderers?
A: Yeah, it's just a completely angry song; people send me email asking
me how I can advocate the death penalty. I'm not. It's just a song; and
people do take you so literally sometimes. I don't really see much point
in trying to write songs to make an audience happy; I think that's when
you end up in trouble. Songwriting needs to come from a completely honest
and personal place.
DA: Has there been anything in the news recently that you've written
about?
A: A couple months before Sept. 11, someone sent me an email about how
women were treated in Afghanistan under the Taliban and I did start to
write something that was like this cry out to Afghanistan; then Sept.
11 happened and I dropped it. It was a song that was started and then
dropped because it was just too much for me. But as far as specific news
stories go, I love to watch the news, but there haven't been any headlines
that have transpired into my songs.
DA: What's the songwriting process like for you? Do you write at home?
A: Yes. I have three boys that are in school, and I have a baby girl who's
home with me all day. My process kind of starts around 9 a.m. after the
kids are in school and I've settled her down. I always have to have my
guitar in my hand when I'm trying to write. I don't ever try to write
the words first, the words always come after. And I just try to fool around
with the guitar and come up with a melody. Sometimes, I don't write it
down or record it for days because I figure if I remember it the next
day, then it's probably catchy enough to work with.
DA: I had assumed that the lyrics came to you first and then the melody.
A: I've tried it the other way around, but it doesn't work that way for
me.
DA: What does your family think of your career?
A: Well the kids don't know any different because they grew up with it.
My oldest son is 13 and he loves it; he loves to come to shows, and he's
got his whole life planned out - he's going to be the best guitarist in
the world. So he loves it because he's just sponging all the information
off this that he can. I have two older brothers that are songwriters.
One has never left his house, as I had planned years ago; and the other
one kind of pursued it for a while; so they give me advice and help out.
But my family is completely behind me; they help me with the kids and
everything.
DA: Audiences are probably surprised to learn that you have four children?
A: People always do wonder how I do it, but I think it's actually easier
than working in an office. The traveling is difficult, but for the most
part I'm home when the kids are home.
DA: You've gained a lot of recognition since "Paper Wings & Halo" was
released in 1998. You received a Boston Music Award for Outstanding Contemporary
Folk Act in 1999, and you've played some important concerts (Newport Folk
Festival and Lilith Fair). What's all the attention been like?
A: It's really amazing because I always did this to occupy myself. I've
been performing since I was a teenager and I always enjoyed it, but I
never expected to leave my house. When I was 27, my friends and my family
told me to go to an open mic . . . somebody told me to make a CD, and
so I took all these little baby steps that led to making ["Paper Wings
& Halo"]. And I always think, 'I was never going to do this; I was never
going to leave my house.' I can't believe that I thought I couldn't do
this.
Check out Lori's website for more information:
www.lorimckenna.com