Lori McKenna hit the musical trifecta earlier this month with a song she penned for the group Little Big Town. “Girl Crush” premiered at number one on Billboard’s Hot Country 100 back in December of 2014. Last month, it won “Song of the Year” at the 49th annual Country Music Awards.
Now, McKenna and fellow tune writers Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey have just received a 2016 Grammy nod as well.
“It’s one of those dreams I was almost afraid to dream because it seemed so out of reach,” McKenna told the Crawler upon receipt of the news earlier this month. “To be nominated with two of my dearest friends on a song cut by my favorite band is just beyond surreal.”
“From the very beginning of her coffeehouse career Lori had a knack for writing powerful songs that were both personal and universal,” notes Jim Olsen of the Signature Sounds Recording label that put out four McKenna albums between 2001 and 2011. “She’s written dozens of fantastic songs, so it’s great to see her nominated for the ultimate songwriting award.”
The 58th Grammys will air live from LA’s Staples Center on CBS Feb. 15 starting at 8 p.m.
Little Big Town is slated to perform at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Dec. 31.
Two of the Valley’s more prominent transplants — Jon Wysocki of Staind and Eric Holden, who was a regular on the local circuit back in the day with Jamawokee and can now be seen holding down the bottom for the likes of Shakira and Josh Groban — checked in to fill the Crawler in on their recent where abouts and musical endeavors.
“I’m just finishing up producing the new Willodean and Charlie Faye & The Fayettes records,” reveals. “I’m heading home for Christmas and after that, I will definitely be touring with the Bodeans. We had a great show in November at Chicago Symphony Hall and we plan to get out as much as possible in 2016.”
“I live in Nashville these days, and I’m loving it,” reports Wysocki. “I’m playing with two bands at present, Natalie Brady Band and Save The World. All good, very talented players to say the least.”
What to say that hasn’t been said about the recent passing of former Stone Temple Pilot frontman Scott Weiland? Many considered him our generation’s Morrison. Quite a few friends and family expressed frustration with his incessant selfishness and not a soul was surprised by the news. And why should anyone? The slow-motion demise of the “Sucker Train Blues” conductor — to cop a title from one of his Velvet Revolver offerings — was just a mouseclick away for all to see. Weiland’s physical appearance and overall coherency literally diminish before one’s eyes when viewing clips in chronological order from his latest tour with The Wildabouts.
Not that it had an auspicious start, either. The original guitarist for that band, Jeremy Brown, overdosed at the tender age of 34 in March of this same year.
Weiland’s most infamous battle cry — and recently released book title — is “Not Dead and Not For Sale.” It was a phrase he could howl bare-chested from atop a monitor and elicit a sea of fist pumps any given evening at any given amphitheater. Today, former tour tees emblazoned with his image and that very slogan are an equal parts tragic and ironic keepsake, being sold on the Web for well above established market prices.
Weiland always wondered what “the rent’s like in heaven.” Rest in peace to one of rock’s most charismatic chameleons. Time to take him home, his dizzy head is conscious laden.
Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, P.O. box 427, Somers, CT 06071; fax to (860) 394-4262 or email garycarra@aol.com.