about
Like so many country artists Michelle Wright cut her teeth playing six nights a week in clubs across Canada. In 1988, after teaming with Savannah Records President Brian Ferriman, Savannah Records released her first CD, Do Right By Me, in Canada, and Michelle and her band set off to tour North America. Do Right By Me was a major hit in her homeland, with seven chart singles and over 40,000 copies sold. That success opened many doors, including at the brand new Arista/Nashville label. Arista/Nashville made Michelle one of its flagship artists, and in 1990, they released her first U.S. album, Michelle Wright. American audiences responded immediately and enthusiastically to "that girl singer from up north with the snow in her videos," and her first single, "New Kind Of Love," became her first Top Thirty American hit.
In 1992, Arista released Now & Then. Now & Then, which produced a total of six singles included, including "One Time Around," "Guitar Talk," "He Would Be Sixteen," and the song that changed everything, "Take It Like A Man." "Take It Like A Man," was released in February of 1992 and in less than a year, Michelle became the first Canadian‐born artist in the modern era of country music to have a Top Ten hit in America, a Number One video on CMT‐USA (also for "Take It Like A Man") and to win a major U.S. music industry award (the Academy of Country Music Top New Female Vocalist award in 1992). The song also catapulted Michelle to superstardom, receiving a total of twelve music industry awards, including the 1993 Canadian Country Music Association's Fans' Choice Entertainer Of The Year award and double platinum honors for Now & Then the same year.
The career that followed is one that many artists dream of having. She has walked to podiums in music centers like Los Angeles and Toronto to accept more than forty major awards, including her 2011 induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. A total of twelve album releases have sold millions of copies and produced twenty‐five Top Ten radio hits. Michelle enjoys an international career that has seen her grace concert stages across North America, Europe, Africa, South America, Australia, and Asia.
In August of 2022, BFD/Audium Nashville released Wright’s tenth studio project, Milestone. Working with producer Bob Funk (the husband of one of the newest inductees into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, Patricia Conroy), she recorded nine brand new songs, including the lead single, “Small Town. The second single, “Heartbreak Song,” lays bare the misery of surviving the end of a relationship. The song was cowritten with Texas Hills’ Adam Wakefield, who also appears in the song’s music video.
Milestone showcases the distinctive musical style that has been the hallmark of her career. One of the highlights of the new release is Wright’s new recording of the classic “Take It Like A Man” for the record. Calls went out to the studio players from the original session. Drummer Lonnie Wilson, guitar players Brent Mason and Biff Watson, and Bruce Bouton (who created the signature guitar lick on his Weissenborn) returned to the studio for the new recording.
Owing to Milestone's overwhelming success, BFD / Audium Nashville will rerelease the master recordings of some of her biggest hits into the marketplace. Initially released on the Savannah Records imprint, these songs will be available as a series.
The first in the series, The Wright Songs: An Acoustic Evening With Michelle Wright, which includes 17 songs recorded live on tour, was released on December 8, 2023. Additional projects will be announced at a later date, leading A Wright Christmas with three newly recorded songs added to the original 12-track compilation released in time for the 2024 holiday season.
“I’m so excited to extend my relationship with BFD / Audium Nashville and announce the rerelease of these master recordings,” explains Wright. “These albums represent a body of work that has allowed me to take you on this wonderful journey I’ve been on and to share my life with you through my songs and recordings. Take a walk down memory lane with me.”
Michelle Wright is currently co-headlining The Great Canadian Roadtrip tour with acclaimed and award-winning country artists Doc Walker and Jason McCoy. An updated tour schedule is available at www.michelle-wright.com/tour-dates.
Discography
DO RIGHT BY ME
Produced by: Steve Bogard & Rick Giles
Release date: February 16, 2024 (Rerelease) BFD/Audium Nashville
THE WRIGHT SONGS: AN ACOUSTIC EVENING WITH MICHELLE WRIGHT
Produced by: Kyle Miller
Release date: December 8, 2023 (Rerelease) BFD/Audium Nashville
Milestone
Produced by: Bob Funk
Release date: August 26, 2022 BFD/Audium Nashville
“Silver Bells”
Digital Single
Produced by: Bob Funk
Release date: October 1, 2019 Navigator Records
STRONG
Produced by: Jason Barry; Danick Dupelle; Eric Silver
Release date: July 9, 2013 Savannah Records
THE WRIGHT SONGS: AN ACOUSTIC EVENING WITH MICHELLE WRIGHT
Produced by: Kyle Miller
Release date: 2011 Savannah Records
DO RIGHT BY ME
Remastered reissue of Michelle’s 1988 debut with Bonus Track
Produced by: Steve Bogard & Rick Giles
Bonus track produced by Mike Francis
Release date: August 24, 2010 Savannah Records
EVERYTHING AND MORE
Produced by: Tony Haselden & Russ Zavitson
Release date: 2006 Icon Records
A WRIGHT CHRISTMAS
Produced by: Tony Haselden & Russ Zavitson
Release date: 2005 Icon Records
SHUT UP AND KISS ME
Produced by: Russ Desalvo, Steven Drake, Eric Silver, Peter Zizzo
Release date: 2002 (Canada) BMG Canada/RCA/ViK Recordings
MICHELLE WRIGHT: THE GREATEST HITS COLLECTION
Produced by: Various Producers
Release date: 1999 Arista Nashville/BMG Canada – Arista Nashville
FOR ME IT'S YOU
Produced by: Jim Scherer, Tim DuBois, John Guess, Monty Powell, Val Garay
Release date: 1996 Arista Nashville
THE REASONS WHY
Produced by: Steve Bogard & Mike Klute, Val Garay, John Guess
Release date: 1994 Arista Nashville
NOW & THEN
Produced by: Steve Bogard & Rick Giles
Release date: 1992 Arista Nashville
MICHELLE WRIGHT
Produced by: Steve Bogard & Rick Giles
Release date: 1990 Arista Nashville
DO RIGHT BY ME
Produced by: Steve Bogard & Rick Giles
Release date: 1988 (Canada) Savannah Records