Lori McKenna Readies New Album The Tree, Releases “People Get Old”

Photo by Becky Fluke

Lori McKenna just announced plans to release a new studio album, The Tree, on July 20 via CN Records and Thirty Tigers. Her 11th studio album, The Tree follows her 2016 Grammy-nominated release The Bird And The Rifle.

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As she did on The Bird And The Rifle, McKenna enlisted the studio skills of prolific producer Dave Cobb, setting up shop at Nashville’s RCA Studio A with Matt Ross-Spang. Co-writers on the album include Natalie Hemby, Hailey Whitters, Liz Rose, and Hillary Lindsey, with musical support from Anderson East (electric guitar), Brian Allen (bass), Chris McKenna (mellotron), Chris Powell (drums), and Kristen Rogers (background vocals).

The album’s first single, released in tandem with the album announcement, is “People Get Old,” a heartfelt look at the ways in which age, time, and family shape the people we eventually become. McKenna penned that song on her own, citing, in press materials for the album, “people’s stories about their families” as a major source of inspiration for The Tree.

Listen to “People Get Old,” see The Tree track list, and check out McKenna’s upcoming tour dates below.

The Tree track list:
1. A Mother Never Rests (Lori McKenna, Barry Dean)
2. The Fixer (Lori McKenna)
3. People Get Old (Lori McKenna)
4. Young And Angry Again (Lori McKenna, Barry Dean, Luke Laird)
5. The Tree (Lori McKenna, Natalie Hemby, Aaron Raitiere)
6. You Won’t Even Know I’m Gone (Lori McKenna)
7. Happy People (Lori McKenna, Hailey Whitters)
8. You Can’t Break A Woman (Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose)
9. The Lot Behind St. Mary’s (Lori McKenna)
10. The Way Back Home (Lori McKenna, Luke Laird)
11. Like Patsy Would (Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose)

Lori McKenna tour dates:
June 14—Sylvania, OH—Centennial Terrace (supporting Alison Krauss)
June 15—Kettering, OH—Fraze Pavilion (supporting Alison Krauss)
June 29—Annapolis, MD—Rams Head On Stage
June 30—Northampton, MA—Iron Horse Music Hall
July 1—East Greenwich, RI—Greenwich Odeum
July 18—Boston, MA—City Winery
July 20—New York, NY—City Winery
July 21—Philadelphia, PA—World Café Live
July 22—Washington, DC—City Winery
August 3—Ann Arbor, MI—The Ark
August 4—Chicago, IL—City Winery
August 5—Minneapolis, MN—Dakota Jazz Club
August 15—Atlanta, GA—City Winery
August 16—Charlotte, NC—North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
August 17—Nashville, TN—CMA Theatre, Country Music Hall of Fame

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