The Wright mix

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This article was published 31/08/2017 (2961 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Michelle Wright has pretty much done it all in country music — she’s recorded the hits, received the awards and been inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

But the fondest memory for the 56-year-old, who plays the Club Regent Event Centre on Sept. 7, is the ultimate symbol of country music success — performing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn.

“There is no doubt that was years of dreaming,” Wright recalls during a telephone interview. “Could I, as a Canadian artist from small-town Merlin, Ont., population 500, look at my Tammy Wynette albums and imagine if I could do what she did? And for that to be a reality… you’re almost not present, you’re almost in a bit of disbelief.

“Garth Brooks was on the bill that night as well, and people were hanging from the rafters. That was a very memorable time for me as an artist, a country artist’s dream come true, being able to share the stage with Garth and enjoy that wonderful experience.”

The Grand Ole Opry began in 1925 and was originally held in what is now called the Ryman Auditorium, but moved to its present location in 1974. When the new Opry was built, though, a circular piece of the old oak stage was torn out and installed in the new building’s stage, maintaining a tangible link to almost a century of country music history.

So when Wright got her invitation to perform in the early 1990s, she couldn’t wait to set foot on that historic circle, she says.

“So when the time came and I got to stand on the circle, I do remember saying to the audience, ‘If you don’t mind, can I just pause for a moment?’ and just stand on this chunk of wood and soak it up a little bit.”

Besides her performance at the Grand Ole Opry, the early ’90s were heady times for Wright. Her third album, Now and Then, came out in 1992 and spawned the hit single Take It Like a Man, which shot to the top 10 on the Billboard Hot Country chart and won the Canadian Country Music Association Single of the Year Award. It also led to her earning the top new female vocalist award from the Academy of Country Music in 1993.

She made Nashville her home shortly afterwards, and since then she’s seen it grow from a city known almost entirely for country music into a metropolis that’s become one of the major entertainment hubs in the United States.

“The change has been incredible, really. I’ve been coming here since 1981 or so, and it’s just incredible to see the change,” she says. “But there’s the yin and the yang to all that as well because some of the historic buildings, where some of the great songs were written in… they’re now being torn down so they can put up condominiums. That can be a hard pill to swallow.”

Wright has had several other hits in Canada since then, including songs such as One Good Man (1994), Nobody’s Girl and Crank My Tractor (1996) and I Surrender (2000). Those songs continue to be the backbone of her concerts in 2017, she says. 

“My husband has made me go see live music more often. Something I’ve learned is you go there to hear the hits that you love,” she says.

Wright says she’s always been in the contemporary side of country music, and her songs have also charted on adult contemporary charts. But in 2002, her album Shut Up and Kiss Me had a distinct pop edge, and so does her latest album, 2013’s Strong. 

Wright says the pop side of country is what radio stations are looking to play these days, and country artists have had to adjust to that reality.

“There’s many of us who still have a passion for that traditional sound, but if you want to get played on radio, that real traditional sound may not get you heard,” Wright says. “It’s a roll of the dice.

“I always came from the contemporary point of view. I was part of the generation that was pushing the boundaries. When you’re young you tend to be a bit rebellious, and that’s what’s going on that’s for sure.” 

 

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca  

Twitter: @AlanDSmall