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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-08-05, Page 13Second Section - August 5, 1998 Itttt:%l111•".."A14. ts4,4111LA111441 Canadian country star has concerns about the music business . By Scott Nixon T -A Reporter NASHVILLE, TENN. While her status as one of Canada's top country vocalists is solid, Michelle Wright ,isn't happy with how her career has developed in the U.S. . In fact, as:Wright said in a telephone interview from her Nashville home last week, the topic angers her. "1'm really upset; not happy," she says .of the difficulties she's had matching her success in Canada south of the border. Despite her frustration, Wright plans no major changes in her approach to her music, saying she doesn't really know what to do to increase her success in the States. - ' "I'm frustrated that it's. been as challenging as -it has been. There's no reason for it." . Wright is also disappointed her 1996 single, Nobody's Girl.,. wasn't as successful as she had hoped. She describes it as too progressive. for its time, adding that country music wasn't ready for the liberal views expressed in'the song. . Things aren't all that bad for the 37 - year -old Chatham native, though. Wright, who performed with her band at the Grand Bend Motorplex last. . weekend, has had success in the .U.S., winning the Academy of Qountry Music's Top New Female Artist in 1993 and taking her 1992 single, Take it Like a Man; into the U.S. top ten, making her the first Canadian -born artist in themodern era of country music to appear in the American top ten. "INCREDIBLE" SUCCESS IN CANADA Wright has no complaints about how her career has developed in . Canada. • "Incredible. Way beyond what I had imagined," she says of her success here. That success includes 22 top ten hits on Canadian country radio and two Juno Awards for Country Female Vocalist of the Year. She is also a 13 -time winner at the Canadian Country Music Awards, including an Album of the Year Award in 1991 for her debut release, Michelle Wright. Wright's success will result in a greatest hits release sometime around Christmas: The album will also include three new songs, which Wright is now working on: The new songs, Wright hopes, will allow her music to cross over • into ,the pop marketplace, something she says artists 4e Shania Twain and LeAnii Rimes have been able to successfully accomplish. As she has primarily relied on other songwriters in the past, Wright wants to evolve as an artist and begin writing her own songs. • "I've started my 17th year -on the. road, I know how to be on the road, I know how to entertain, I know how to communicate with an audience... but I'm definitely enjoying the challenge of trying to figure out how to write a hit record. ". "Not a trite hit record," she says. "but a real fabulous song." And as with every artist, Wright is caught between creating art that satisfies herself and art that is marketable to a wide audience. "I used to concern myself a lot with the artistic accomplishments and sometimes that doesn't pay the bills. Mind you, I'm:fine . . . 1 - don't need anything more, 1 have lots of everything, but 1 do keep :a full-time band." As a result, Wright admits there have been times .when the artistic side of her persona has been compromised because -she -felt she hadto make something commercially acceptable. She adds,. though: that it is important she doesn't become too commercial, believing that artists who fall into that trap don't last too long. . - "I believe the reason I'm still here is because -of my concern that 1 put out quality stuff and so I will continue to do that and at the same time I'm trying to figure how to be commercial and I don't -know that anybody knows how to do that " . A CRUEL INDUSTRY The music business, according to Wright, is becoming more unforgiving- "1 thiiik that you can get a hit these days, but whether you can get a career these days is another story:" Making a successful career "has always been challenging and I think it continues to be challenging. There's nd easy way." Wright says she feels sorry for artists in today's music industry who can't sustain a'career and end up being one -hit wonders. "Some of these kids, they've got nothing. One hii'-sold a million records. That million, records hasn't -even recouped them at their label and they can't drawn a crowd. it's hard." In the past. Wright says, if art artist got a deal with a label, that deal 'would guarantee a ten-year career; now things are different. "I'ye been at Arista Records for eight years — that's almost unheard of these days." Despite the businesses' unforgiving nature, if an artist does make it big these days, the rewards are much more lucrative than they used to be, Wright says. in terms of the state of country music in the '90s, Wright says there ;is some wonderful music•being made now, although she cautions that there are a lot of "copycats" making records these days, a development she blames on the interference of big business. farmer's Collectioi Health} -lean of Proset8,; PoettY .Walken' µany. A• Schroca n,,:.. usn� rl,-DIP3 Uintaql jn r(�S e Franklin a i �, 424 MAIN ST! .LiET EXETER • 235-1331 "You get the corporate world involved, you see, and the Corporate world doesn't care about creativity, they just care about selling advertising and that's part of the problem in country music right now." - While she has lived in Nashville since 1991. Wright says she • flies back to Canada all the time and often sees her family. And surprisingly enough, while she grew up .in Merlin, Ont., last weekend's performance was Wright's first visit to Grand Bend and she said she had looked forward to finally getting there. "i'm so glad," she said of finally getting to visit whatshe describes as "the party place to go on the weekends." A SECOND CAREER? In addition to her singing career, Wright has become interested in acting and recently made her debut on Due South, which will air in Canada in the fall; . The acting experience for Wright was "wonderful..Fabulous. It was just a big kick." Working on Due South was easier than Wright thought .it would be and she said acting came naturally to her. She says her 17 years as a performer helped 'prepare her to work in front of the camera. "When you're doing videos.or when you're trying to get in a •state of mind for a photo shoot or in- the studio to sing a certain song — all of that requires a mental discipline that is very similar to acting." Wright plans to pursue an acting career -but says she's had difficulty finding a good script. . For the summer, though, Wright is touring — playing e approximately 35 dates in July and August — and being on the road is what she likes best. "I love it. I've done it for many years. It's probably our most favorite thing to do. I've. got a band. that's been. with me for "a long time and we're palsand we love to play. It doesn't matter where it is, it doesn't matter who's there, just as long as we're playing: That's what we enjoy most of all." MICHELLE WRIGHT'S DISCOGRAPHY: Michelle Wright (1990) Now and Then (1992) The Reasons Why (released inCanadia onljrt 1994) ' For Me,It''s You (1996) MAJOR AWARD Junos: Country Female Vocalist of the Year (1993 and 1995) Canadian Country Music Awards: , Album of the Year, "Michelle Wright," (1991) Single of the Year, "New Kind of Love," (1991) Single of the Year, "Take it Like a Man," (1992) Single of the Year, "He Would be Sixteen," (1993) Entertainer of the Year (1993 and 1995) Female Vocalist of the Year (1990,1991, 1992, 1993) Academy of Country Music: Top New Female Vocalist, (1992) • TOOL & tRENTAL RENTAL STOP .r sem..-�-.. ��►�► at the DOit Miter Milwaukee SUPERSAWZALL $111Z01 ack Reg. $289.99 SALE Milwaukee DRYWALL DRIVER Reg. $145.00 SALE 129..95 Milwaukee 14.4V CORDLESS HAMMER DRILL $299Reg. $372.39 SALE 299.,95 L� FOR ALL YOUR RENTAL NEEDS SEE US--. Dott -- EXETER 235-4441 PICK-UP AND DELIVERY SERVICE AVAILABL