McKenna, who's been performing for years on the Northeast folk scene became known on a wider scale when country singer Faith Hill recorded three of her songs for her 2005 album "Fireflies." That led to a deal with Hill's husband Tim McGraw's Stylesonic Records label and McKenna's first national album, "Unglamorous."

"This is a dream," McKenna said. "It was great to just write songs and have someone else sing them for a really large audience. Now I'm doing that myself. It's almost too crazy to get my head around, you know?"

McKenna's songs have also been recorded by Sara Evans and Mandy Moore. She was an opening act on McGraw and Hill's Soul2Soul Tour this summer and she said she plans to play her own live dates to support "Unglamorous."