Lori McKenna won “Song of the Year” at The 50th Annual CMA Awards for her solo-penned, No. 1 hit “Humble & Kind” (Tim McGraw). McKenna is the first female songwriter to win back-to-back “Song of the Year” nods following last year’s breakthrough “Girl Crush” (co-written with Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey), which was also awarded “Best Country Song” at the 2016 Grammy Awards. This is the first time a songwriter has won the award in consecutive years since Vince Gill won from 1991-1993. McKenna is also the first solo songwriter to win CMA’s “Song of the Year” award since 2011.
In addition to being recorded by McGraw, “Humble & Kind” appears on McKenna’s new album The Bird & The Rifle, which is out now on CN Records via Thirty Tigers (purchase here). Produced by Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton), the album was recorded live over ten days in Nashville and has received overwhelming critical praise.
McKenna wrote “Humble & Kind” alone at home while her kids were at school—a loving attempt to impart wisdom, layered over three chords. “I can say it’s one of my favorite songs, mostly because I had my kids in my head the whole time I was trying to write it,” she says. “My kids know that it’s theirs, and it’s nice in that way. It worked out pretty good.”