For Julianna McKenna, who performs as Edie McKenna, songwriting is a deeply personal act of documentation. Like entries in a diary, her songs capture specific moments and feelings, creating a compendium of her life.
“I consider a song to be a moment,” McKenna said. “And the more clear that moment is — whether that’s a story or a feeling I’m having — the more it comes through in the music.”
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The musician, who is best known for her work with the group Modern Nun, is at her most publicly vulnerable on her debut EP, “For Edie,” which is now available to stream. Primarily written during her teenage years, “For Edie” is a collection of earnest folk songs about personal and familial challenges.
Growing up in Minnesota, McKenna, 26, was immersed in music from an early age. Her childhood home was filled with instruments — a piano, several guitars — and the sounds of folk music, particularly regional heroes like Bob Dylan and The Jayhawks.
She later taught herself guitar in eighth grade and maintained a consistent connection to music through choir and personal practice. Yet, unlike other hobbies that came and went, music remained a constant.
“Sometimes, you can pick up a hobby and then you can drop it,” McKenna began. “But this was a hobby that I just have never wanted to drop. The fun hasn’t faded away from it.”
For McKenna, songwriting is an act of wordplay. It also provides an emotional release. Working on a new song allows her to more directly channel her thoughts and emotions, utilizing diction and meaning for creatively juicy lyrics. And because she likes to start and finish a song in one day, that makes for a succinct body of work.
McKenna wrote the songs on “For Edie” between the ages of 17 and 22. She described it as a period of significant personal change and family challenges. Like many artists, music became a source of comfort for McKenna, who used her songwriting during this period to process things like queerness and her religious upbringing.
You can hear this on songs like “Kick in the Shin,” which uses a bright, sunny disposition throughout the melody and chords to contrast dark lyrics. “I’m a daughter of a kick in the shin / Electronic waste filled to the brim,” she croons in the chorus.
“For Edie” also channels the sound of the music she heard throughout her youth. “I definitely came to it with that in mind and wanting to be more folk forward,” she recalled.
But rather than keep things simple, McKenna collaborated with musician Seth Beck to expand her sound, incorporating influences like Neil Young’s signature distortion to match the heft of her lyrics. “Hail Mary,” the third track on the EP, executes this structure best. “Can you tell I cleaned my shoes on the way back from your house?” she asks above a mountain of distorted guitars in the song’s second verse. “There’s no mud on the heels anymore, no blood dripping from my mouth,” she concludes.
“These songs are about deeper things than what I normally write about,” McKenna said about the lyrics. “Seth helped me a lot with this EP, so I didn’t feel so vulnerable that (the instrumentation) was just the three chords that I wrote at the beginning.”
With this focused sound, McKenna felt more open to sharing this music with the world. “I feel like I can move on,” she said. “It just feels good to release and let go of these hard feelings and things that I went through.”
Now that “For Edie” is out in the world, McKenna will continue to work on her music, both as a solo artist and with her band Modern Nun. While she admits to wanting the traditional markers of musical success — bigger audiences, larger venues — her ultimate goal is sustainability, both creatively and in her overall life.
“I’m hoping to just touch more people with the art that we create and have fun along the way,” she said. “It’s about the joy of the process.”
“For Edie” is out now on streaming platforms.
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.