Mackenzie O'Brien and Band

News

Mackenzie and Band continue stretch of opening for Country Music's Hottest and Most Iconic Acts!

Mackenzie and her band continue to open for country music's hottest and most iconic names. The band opened for Ryan Hurd outside of Wrigley Field in Chicago in a July show sponsored by Budweiser, The Chicago Cubs, and country station US99. Ryan, who perhaps is best known as the husband of Maren Morris, wrote #1 songs for Blake Shelton, Lady A, and Luke Bryan. Ryan is signed to RCA Nashville Records.

Mackenzie and the band followed that with an August show opening for country superstars Lonestar. Lonestar dominated country charts in the 1990s with numerous #1s and songs that had an impact well beyond the halls of country music. The Show at The Vixen Theater in McHenry opened with Mackenzie and her band featuring songs from her upcoming album.

Other notables Mackenzie has opened for include Chris Janson, Jordan Davis, Lee Brice, Parker McCollom, The Vandoliers, and Mike and the Moonpies. (Ryan and Mackenzie pictured outside of Wrigley Field, Mackenzie and Lonestar pictured in the green room at The Vixen, Mackenzie pictured on stage outside of Wrigley Field!

Mackenzie and The Band: Festivals, Town Concerts and Album Release in Late Autumn

Mackenzie and the band hit the festival circuit hard this summer with appearances at fests in four states including a return trip to Country Thunder Wisconsin! They balanced that with town concerts in towns throughout Northern Illinois and a few preferred indoor venues in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.

Mackenzie is looking forward to releasing an album later this year that has been in the works for close to two years. The album includes songs co-written with grammy winners, and writers with number one credits to their name. Like most of her previous works, the album will be recorded and produced in Nashville, Tennessee! (Mackenzie Pictured at Country Thunder Wisconsin / Photo Credit Jason Kalish)

About

About Mackenzie O'Brien Songwriter

Mackenzie was given the nickname "Hummingbird" at an early age as she was often found playing alone and humming made up melodies. The name stuck and the hummingbird has become a symbol for her band and brand. She released a song and music video entitled "Hummingbird" in 2020. Link to song: https://youtu.be/c9WY8nDpk5Q

Mackenzie reports knowing from around the age of four that music was her calling. At the age of 14 Mackenzie picked up a guitar and taught herself to play chords very quickly while watching videos on youtube. She stated that it was like part of her brain was unlocked and she again found herself linked with music!

Mackenzie developed her skills on guitar, and some banjo, and began singing in bars and coffee houses upon graduation from high school. She also hit open mic.s in the area, In Austin Texas, and in Nashville Tennessee where she built up music alliances and eventual partnerships. Mackenzie recorded and released her first original song "It's Just a Line" in 2017 recorded at Nashville's iconic Omnisound Studios! The song solo written in a singer songwriter style was featured on the Iceman's Nashville based radio show for up and coming original artists in that same year. The song is no longer on online listening platforms but can be found at the following link...

Link to Song: https://www.reverbnation.com/mackenzieobrien/song/28673620-just-a-line

Mackenzie continued performing in Chicagoland and In Wisconsin and continued developing her writing style while being known for her development of song melodies. Mackenzie was sought out by various writers and built songwriting partnerships in Nashville and online with other writers across the US and Canada. In 2019 Mackenzie won a songwriting contest sponsored by Merf Music Nashville which put her path on a new trajectory. To date, Mackenzie has written with Grammy nominated and Grammy winning writers, writers that were BMIs top money earners, and many writers with #1 songs to their credit.

At this time, Mackenzie continues to write with a team of writers in Nashville and she is excited about releasing a new album in late 2022 partly produced by a three time grammy winner! The album will feature a more americana music blend and one song (Sugar Daddy) that is completely outside of the "Nashville Box". Her music can be found on all the online listening platforms.

Writing Room (nashville) with some of the best

Laying down vocals at Omnisound Nashville

Singing out in Nashville Clubs

Band

The Mackenzie O'Brien Band

The Mackenzie O'Brien Band has defied odds by quickly becoming Chicagoland's #1 young country band. In spite of being young (24 to 34 years old) and female led, the band has moved from small to bigger bars and festivals including their headlining fests in four states. They returned to the iconic Country Thunder for the second consecutive year this summer and have performed at some of the areas biggest venues including The Now Center (Formerly the Sears Center), Joe's on Weed, Joe's Live Rosemont, The Hard Rock Casino, and many others! They have also held concerts for more than 20 villages, The Chicago Cubs, and The Chicago White Sox!

The band is one of the few in Chicagoland that can play all covers and, if requested, play all original songs or a mix of both! One large venue owner commented "Mackenzie and her band are the only band I have booked that had no crowd energy drop off when playing an original song!" Over it's few years in existence, the band has opened for various country stars and the genres hottest new acts! This includes Lonestar, Chris Janson, Parker McCollom, Lee Brice, Ryan Hurd, The Vandoliers, Jordan Davis, and Mike and The MoonPies.

The band is local to Chicagoland and Southern Wisconsin but also plays venues throughout the midwest and beyond! They feature all full time musicians and a lead singer recently referred to, in print, as "Chicago's New Country Queen".