Tim McGraw named an album and a summer tour after one of Jenn Schott’s songs. “Two Lanes of Freedom” opens the door, but the real reason to see Jenn Schott at Bluebird on 3rd is hearing those songs from the person who wrote them. The Pittsburg, Kansas native has written in Nashville for more than two decades. In addition, she plays her catalog with the ease of someone who knows exactly where every line came from.
Bluebird on 3rd brings the Bluebird Cafe’s songwriter rounds to 3rd & Lindsley. At the 12:30 p.m. show on October 12, three stools lined the stage: Schott in the center, Adam Hambrick on her left and Mark Irwin on her right. With each song, the spotlight moved down the line from writer to writer. The lunchtime crowd brought more energy than the hour suggested. When Schott asked the room to take the refrain of “Feel It in the Morning,” the Rascal Flatts cut, they sang it right back. On “Two Lanes of Freedom,” Hambrick added harmony vocals and guitar, giving McGraw’s title track a fuller, warmer lift.
The Stories Behind the Songs
Between songs, Schott shared intimate stories about the ups and downs a songwriter experiences, including some of her own. There are the disappointments, when an artist records a song and never releases it, leaving it in a kind of musical void. Then there are the exciting surprise emails, like the one telling her Tim McGraw was going to release her song “Two Lanes of Freedom.” That song turns a back highway into an escape. “7500 OBO,” McGraw’s No. 1 single, gets a whole relationship’s story out of a for-sale sign on a pickup. “Feel It in the Morning,” from Rascal Flatts’ 2020 EP How They Remember You, is about a night you don’t want to sleep off.
Watch for Jenn Schott back at The Listening Room October 14 in Nashville. Keep up with her shows and new releases at jennschott.com.
A curated pick by Planet Mars Music Editorial Staff and crafted with the help of AI