Born in Stoughton, Massachusetts in 1968, Lori McKenna began writing songs as a child after losing her mother at a young age. She married her high school sweetheart, raised five kids, and didn't perform publicly until her sister-in-law dragged her to an open mic night in 1996. Her career took off when Faith Hill discovered her album Bittertown and recorded several of her songs, with Faith and Tim McGraw becoming her biggest champions in Nashville. She went on to become the first woman to win the ACM's Songwriter of the Year award and won back-to-back Grammys for Best Country Song — for Little Big Town's "Girl Crush" and Tim McGraw's "Humble and Kind." All the while, she has continued to call Boston home, commuting to Nashville while living outside of Music City's bubble.