Timothy Monger at AllMusic awarded the album four out of five stars and deemed it " another extremely strong effort for Lori McKenna , whose growing catalogue is already known for its quality . " Ann Powers at NPR Music called '' The Bird and The Rifle '' " one of 2016 's best releases " , in part , due to " Humble and Kind " , which manages to be " both widely resonant and specific " . Powers also praised McKenna 's voice , which she describes as " powerful but never grandiose , as if she 's telling you something important but does n't want to make a fuss . " Stephen Dusner from Pitchfork celebrated the track " We Were Cool " , likening McKenna to Bruce Springsteen , stating that " McKenna knows that the power of a barbed lyric or a rich character relies on a bold melody and a patient vocal , and more than anything else her vocals put these songs across and make these stories relatable " . Similarly , Jon Pareles of '' The New York Times '' also praised McKenna 's voice as a " taut , lived in soprano that can take on a flutter or a rasp close to the country of earlier generations " and pointing out that the strength in her songwriting is the " mundane yet illuminating detail . " McKenna became the first solo woman since Jennifer Nettles in 2008 to win the Song of the Year award at the Country Music Association Awards and only the fifth solo female overall to win ( following Nettles , Kimberly Perry , Gretchen Peters and K.T. Oslin ) . Furthermore , McKenna is the only woman to win the CMA award back-to-back for different songs ( following 2015 's Girl Crush ) and only the fourth songwriter overall to do so ( after Paul Overstreet , Don Schlitz and Vince Gill ) . " Humble and Kind " won the award for Best Country Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards , while the album was nominated for Best Americana Album , and " Wreck You " for Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song
59th Annual Grammy Awards
59th Annual Grammy Awards
The Bird and the Rifle