The Love Junkies Play New Songs, Introduce Alyssa Micaela

Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose played a handful of new tunes prior to a showcase for Alyssa Micaela, a budding artist/songwriter, on Wednesday night (April 27). The award-winning trio performed three songs at The Country, a new venue near Centennial Park, before bringing Micaela (a writer for Liz Rose Music and Warner/Chappell Music) to the stage. Numerous A&R label executives, PRO representatives and publishing company personnel could be spotted in the crowd.

Lindsey, McKenna and Rose are collectively known as The Love Junkies. They traded lines on their new collaborative compositions “Like Patsy Would” and “Think Like a Man,” then concluded their set with their signature hit, “Girl Crush.”

Leading up to the show, the three songwriters posed with MusicRow Challenge Coins, presented for writing “Girl Crush.” Starting in 2014, every artist and songwriter with a No. 1 single on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart receives a coin. Last June, “Girl Crush” was named Song of the Year at the 2015 MusicRow Awards, leading the way for even more recognition, including ACM nominations, and CMA and Grammy Awards.

Meanwhile, Rose has been a longtime supporter of Micaela, a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Odessa, Texas. Dressed in a vintage Patty Loveless T-shirt, she opened the set with a sassy number titled “Truck Bed.” Her single “Getaway Car” has generated more than 1.6 milion streams on Spotify, due to inclusion on Spotify’s Hot Country, New Boots and Wild Country playlists. She co-wrote the song with Derrick Southerland and Jesse Walker. She also incorporates her Hispanic heritage into her music, offering a bilingual rendition of Roy Orbison’s “Crying.”

Rose personally introduced Micaela to the stage, noting that she thinks of the young talent as her own daughter. They have worked together closely for the last seven years. Micaela is managed by Pete Olson at Master Craft Management.