New Lenox Native, Musician Comes Home To Summer Concert Series Stage

NEW LENOX, IL — A New Lenox native is coming back to the 'burbs after six years spent honing her craft in Nashville—and she's stepping back onto her hometown stage.

Makena Hartlin, a 2012 Lincoln-Way grad and singer/songwriter, is set to open for country stars Big & Rich, in New Lenox's Aug. 8 Summer Concert Series show.

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While she made a homecoming appearance in New Lenox in 2022, it's Hartlin's first time back on the Summer Concert Series stage since 2015, and she's eager to share where life has taken her since then—particularly how her time in Music City has influenced her musically and personally.

"It's been so much growth and life between then and now," Hartlin told Patch. "I really feel like back then I was so new and fresh, trying to find my sound and myself, and now I'm coming back a lot more seasoned, excited to be where I was so young—where I grew up—playing to a lot of familiar people, I'm sure. Getting to really show all the growth and work that has happened in the last 10 years."

Hartlin will play at 6 p.m., followed by Matthew & Gunnar Nelson at 7:30 p.m., with Big & Rich (with Cowboy Troy) playing at 9 p.m.

"I have a whole hour," Hartlin said. "I'll get to share a lot. I'm really stoked about the long set."

Hartlin recently marked her first year as an independent artist—a route chosen instead of being under a label.

"I chose to take the independent path, and dive into the unknown again," Hartlin previously told Patch. "Really have creative control again. You go through the wrong deal once or twice—hopefully only once, ideally none."

Hartlin said she's excited to show off her storytelling abilities through her lyrics.

"The themes that I gravitate toward are the female experience in relationship," she previously told Patch. "Family, generational trauma. Personal empowerment themes in my writing, as well."

She draws musical inspiration from Jackson Brown, Tom Waits and Joni Mitchell.

Hartlin has won acclaim with two of her songs, notably "Conspiracy Theory," which won Songwriting Magazine's Song of the Year in 2024.

"Makena Hartlin is a singer and songwriter with an alluring and imaginative way of telling stories through song and a voice as pure as morning dew that would stop even the most disinterested ear in their tracks," one journalist wrote.

She also won American Songwriters Magazine's "March Forward" contest for her song "Not Going Anywhere." The contest sought entries written around artists following their dreams, she said.

Hartlin is thrilled to open for Big & Rich, an act she remembers from the start of her love for country music.

"I remember maybe in fourth grade, in the back of my friend's mom's minivan, 'Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy' came on, and she was just rocking out to it," Hartlin said, laughing. "I vividly remember that. It was such a staple of the 2000s. I didn't grow up with a family who loved country—it was something I gathered and developed on my own.

"... That sort of 2000s, classic, fun energy. I feel like that's what they're known for."

She's eager to play her songs "Flipside," "Hello, I Love You, Goodbye," and "Dead Horses" to her hometown audience.

"I'm excited to see how they connect—which ones people are loving," Hartlin said. "It's going to be a big crowd, and I love that energy."

Tickets are still available for the Aug. 8 Summer Concert Series show, set to take place at the New Lenox Performing Arts Pavilion, 101 Veterans Parkway. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are $60, with sales open to all. Children ages 8 and under are admitted free and must be accompanied by an adult.

Check out the Village's website for the must-know information, and to buy tickets.