Stella Lefty Celebrates ‘Boston’ With Nashville No. 1 Party
Pictured (Seated, L-R): Jacob “JKash” Hindlin, Stella Lefty, Grace Enger and Joe Reeves. (Standing, L-R): Livelihood Music’s Jaime Hindlin, Atlantic Outpost’s Stephanie Hagerty, Kobalt’s Rani Hancock, ASCAP’s Nicole George-Middleton, BMI’s Shannon Sanders, Livelihood Music’s Carolyn Moore and ASCAP’s Emilia James. Photo: Ed Rode
Stella Lefty gathered friends and industry members to celebrate her first No. 1 song, “Boston,” on Friday (Oct. 2) with a No. 1 party at the CAA office. The track was written by Grace Enger, Jacob “JKash” Hindlin, Noah Kahan and Joe Reeves.
To kick off the celebration, Lefty performed the hit track alongside Reeves. Emceed by ASCAP’s Emilia James, ASCAP’s Nicole George-Middleton, BMI’s Shannon Sanders, Livelihood Music’s Jaime Hindlin and Carolyn Moore, Kobalt’s Rani Hancock and Atlantic Outpost’s Stephanie Hagerty each took the microphone to honor the songwriters and the team behind the track.
Stella Lefty performs “Boston” with Joe Reeves. Photo: Ed Rode
James noted that this is the first time in 22 years a female artists’ debut single has spent multiple weeks atop the chart. She continued by speaking about the night of Lefty’s Opry debut, which was the first time they met. “What struck me about Stella was, on a day that was supposed to be all about her, she spends all her time celebrating everybody else in the room,” James shared. “Yes, she is an amazing artist and songwriter, we all see that. But, she’s also just an amazing human who cares about the people around her.”
Sanders was on deck to speak about Enger. “What I love most about this moment is that ‘Boston’ didn’t happen in isolation. You and Stella have developed a real creative friendship. You’ve written together, sung together and helped shape so much of the music that has introduced Stella to the world. Great songwriters have a way of taking something incredibly personal and making everybody listening feel like it belongs to them, and Grace, you have that gift.”
He also took a moment to honor Reeves. “You didn’t just help write ‘Boston.’ You produced it, engineered it, programmed it and helped create a song that the world fell in love with. You’ve become an important part of Stella finding her sound and have continued to build that body of work alongside her. You once described making this record as capturing lightning in a bottle. Well, you caught it.”
George-Middleton spoke about Hindlin, noting that this is his eighth country chart-topper. She also recognized Kahan, who was unable to attend the party due to scheduling conflicts, for his first No. 1 on country radio.
Pictured (L-R): Jacob “JKash” Hindlin, Stella Lefty, Grace Enger and Joe Reeves. Photo: Ed Rode
Hindlin and Moore spoke about their time working with Lefty. “Stella, I’m so proud of you,” Moore shared. “It’s been incredible to be on this ride with you. You are the most hardworking person I know. You are a brilliant songwriter and artist, but you’ve remained so grounded, kind and open-hearted through this whole process. I’m just so grateful to be part of the ride.”
Hancock and Hagerty echoed similar sentiments, thanking everyone involved for their work to get the song to the top of the charts.
Billboard and Country Aircheck presented Lefty with plaques commemorating the song’s chart-dominating success.
Reeves was the first of the creators to take the microphone, stating, “Stella drills it in to me every time we work that it needs to be about having fun and just making good music. That’s what we went into this to do. I just never could have imagined this.”
“Stella is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever met,” Enger shared. “I think the thing I’ve learned the most from you is just to have fun and how all the good things come when you’re just having fun with good people. Thank you to everyone on her teams who have helped this little song become a big song.”
“Everyone on these stools is really good at what they do. It is hard to get a No. 1. What a lot of people don’t account for is luck, and I just consider myself lucky,” Hindlin added. “The thing about my career is I’ve just been so lucky to be around the best people.”
Lefty closed the afternoon thanking each member of her team and country radio for embracing her. “To country radio, I’ve loved you guys my whole entire life. You raised me, so thank you for playing my song, because I just could have never imagined that any of this would happen,” shared Lefty. “To have a No. 1 song is a very crazy feeling. I’ve dreamed of this my whole life, and I love country music more than anything in the whole world. To be part of this community, I feel so grateful and so honored.”
