Eugene singer-songwriter to conclude mini-jam with free concert Saturday at Lowell

By DEAN REA/Correspondent/The Herald—A free one-hour concert by McKayla Marie will wrap up mini-Blackberry Jam festivities starting at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Eugene singer-songwriter will travel to Lowell after performing her pop-folk and country music at the Lane County Fair in Eugene, reports Kristen Prenevost, who has organized several activities surrounding the Stomping Grounds Coffee Shop.

Admission will be free, but spectators are invited to bring their own chairs to the concert site in front of the coffee shop.

“I have been playing guitar since I was nine years old and writing songs since much earlier than that,” McKayla writes on her website.  “In fact, my parents have a video of me performing my first ever original song when I was around five or six years old.”

Since then, McKayla has written more than a hundred songs, mostly country music.

“Songwriting is my priority because I love being able to tell stories that give people something to relate to,” she says. “My favorite reaction is when someone tells me that a story I wrote was just what they needed to hear as it matches their life perfectly. This is such a special way to get to connect to people, and I think that this is something that makes music so powerful.”

McKayla also enjoys baking, wrestling and spontaneous adventures, especially if they involve hiking.

“Music makes the world go ‘round, and it has made me into the person that I am today,” she says. “I am so thankful for those who have continuously supported me and my music, and I am always looking forward to what is in store for the future.”