Single is available now with the album dropping in Aug
Canadian Country Music Hall of Famer Michelle Wright logs the mile markers of her career with her co-penned new release, “Small Town,” available now on all digital platforms. The track was produced by Bob Funk and serves as the lead single to her forthcoming Milestone album, dropping August 26th via BFD/Audium Nashville.
Wright debuted the single she co-wrote with Danielle Boujeaurd and Rick Ferrell earlier this month at her Country Music Association of Ontario and CMA Music Festival performances.
“It was my first time writing with Danielle and Rick. Danielle started asking me questions about my career,” recalls Wright. “It was fun reminiscing, and it was suggested that we write my story. As the song started to present itself on the page, it unfolded very organically. Small Town says so much about the road I’ve been on in just three minutes. It makes me smile each time that I listen to it.”
While the song serves as snapshot of her journey, fans have been dancing to this summer country smash with a pavement pounding Motown beat that drives the single. It’s only fitting that Wright would dial in on the sound of Motor City as she was reared in the border town of Merlin, Ontario, Canada, a farming community with a population of about 700 an hour away from Detroit.
Wright has been traveling across North America this year celebrating the 30th anniversary release of her breakout album Now & Then. That project featured her signature hit “Take it Like a Man,” alongside fan favorites, the storytelling, powerful ballad “He Would Be Sixteen” and party starter “Guitar Talk.”
Upcoming appearances include a performance on July 3rd at Dauphin’s Countryfest; July 22nd in Chehalis, WA; July 31st in Camrose; and a free show August 6th at Flightfest in Merlin.
Like so many country artists, Michelle Wright cut her teeth playing six nights a week in clubs throughout Canada. In 1988, after teaming with Savannah Records President Brian Ferriman, Savannah Records released her first CD, Do Right By Me, in Canada. The album was a major hit in her homeland, with seven charting singles and over 40,000 copies sold. That success opened many doors, landing her a deal with the brand new Arista/Nashville label.
Arista/Nashville made Wright one of its flagship artists, and, in 1990, they released her first US album, Michelle Wright. American audiences enthusiastically responded to “that girl singer from up north with the snow in her videos.” Her first single, “New Kind Of Love,” became her first Top 30 American hit.
In 1992, Arista released her second CD, Now & Then, producing a total of six singles including “One Time Around,” “Guitar Talk,” “He Would Be Sixteen,” and the song that changed everything, “Take It Like A Man.” After the latter was release in February 1992, Wright became the first Canadian-born artist in the modern era of country music to have a Top 10 hit in America. She went on to secure a No. 1 video on CMT in the US with “Take It Like A Man” as well as winning the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Female Vocalist” award. The song also catapulted Wright to superstardom, receiving a total of 12 music industry awards, including the 1993 Canadian Country Music Association’s Fans’ Choice Entertainer of The Year Award, and 2x Platinum honors for Now & Then the same year.
Her total of twelve album releases have sold millions of copies and produced 25 Top 10 radio hits. She went on to win a total of 16 CCMA Awards. Wright enjoys an international career that has seen her grace concert stages across North America, Europe, Africa, South America, Australia, and Asia. To date, she has garnered 40 major awards, including her 2011 induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.
