Shannon Wright

Shannon Wright
Wright at the Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona 2007
Background information
Born Florida, United States
Genres Indie rock, experimental, rock, punk, noise rock, chamber music, piano
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active 1999–present
Labels Touch and Go, Quarterstick, Vicious Circle Records
Website shannonwrightmusic

Shannon Wright is an American singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. Wright, known for her raw live performances and "do-it-yourself punk aesthetic".

History

Wright was part of a thriving 1990s rock scene in Jacksonville, Florida, a member of a trio called Crowsdell who signed with a small British label, Big Cat Records, distributed by Sony. The group relocated to New York and soon broke up. Wright moved from New York to Chapel Hill, NC. While in Chapel Hill, Wright started writing songs and played them for friends. With their encouragement she sent a 4-track cassette tape to a friend of a friend to Overcoat Records. They released her first 7" A Tin Crown for the Social Bash on Overcoat Records, Wright signed with Touch and Go Records in 1999 out of Chicago till they closed in 2008, releasing six albums. Wright signed with Vicious Circle (France) in 2003 and continues to release records with them. In 2012, Wright signed with Ernest Jennings and released Secret Blood and In Film Sound in the States.

Recordings

FLIGHTSAFETY Wright's first record received critical acclaim for Wright's intriguing lyrics and songwriting abilities.[1] FlightSafety consists of simple guitar and piano chord progressions with striking vocal melodies. Wright plays almost all the instruments on this release and all other releases following FlightSafety.

Shannon Wright

MAPS OF TACIT Recorded with Andy Baker and Steve Albini. "Overall, Maps of Tacit finds Wright growing more adventurous both as a composer and performer; it's a dark and challenging work, yet it isn't off-putting or overly harrowing, and its bracing experimentalism and originality suggest even greater things to come." - AllMusic review by Steve Huey.[2]

PERISHABLE GOODS was a limited mini-album compiled of appearances by: Alan Sparhawk of Low,[3] Crooked Fingers, and Rachel Grimes and Christian Fredrickson from Rachel's.

DYED IN THE WOOL recorded with Andy Baker and Steve Albini.[4] Songs like "Less than a moment" and "Hinterland", Wright still features her emotive and intimate lyrics while taking on new found confidence. Appearances on the album include label-mates Shipping News, Rachel's and Heather Macintosh from Japancakes.

Shannon Wright

OVER THE SUN recorded with Steve Albini; although Wright had recorded with Albini before on several different occasions (Maps of Tacit & Dyed in the Wool), this was the first time Wright and Albini completed a full-length record together. Albini's distinctive "live" recording signature allows Wright to showcase her fervent, powerful and unique guitar playing.[5] This album comes closest to capturing her intense, unbridled and extremely raw live-performances.

YANN TIERSEN AND SHANNON WRIGHT Sharing 50-50 songwriting credits, Tiersen's classical background brightened Wright's classical tendencies, and in turn, Wright brightened Tiersen's experimental and punk tendencies.

LET IN THE LIGHT recorded with Andy Baker.[6] Wright moves back to her slightly simpler instrumentation and recording styles and seems more at ease on the piano, exploring experimental and unorthodox piano melodies with a bit of classical influence. "Shannon Wright is an example of that shocking, spooky thing: a natural." - New York Times

HONEYBEE GIRLS, Wright faces up to her taboos: acoustics and electronics. Piano, organ, guitars, violin, cello with indistinct tones allow to feel freedom and freshness.

SECRET BLOOD "Fractured" exemplifies her coarse and distinctive guitar playing, as does the beautifully hypnotic "Violent Colors".

IN FILM SOUND recorded with Kevin Ratterman in Louisville, KY. Recorded mostly live as a 3-piece with Todd Cook on bass and Kyle Crabtree on drums.[7] "It's emblematic of the tense, discomforting oeuvre Wright favors from terse noisy bursts of guitar to moody minor key elegies." - Creative Loafing

DIVISION is Wright's newest release 2017 recorded in Paris and Rome at KML Studios with David Chalmin. "Wright's songwriting reaches a new perfection in the most tenuous murmurs, where it is still a tear that works, an evil that clings, a fermenting poison. The nuances are all here: less guitar and more piano give the impression of chamber music - but flooded - or aquarium - but overturned. This frightened indecision, this trouble of the eyes too wide open, is the very art of Shannon Wright, very pure singer, too rare." - Les Inrocks Paris, France

Other works:

Album Discography

  • Dreamette (with Crowsdell) (1995)
  • Within the Curve of an Arm (with Crowsdell) (1997)
  • Flightsafety (1999)
  • Maps of Tacit (2000)
  • Perishable Goods (2001)
  • Dyed in the Wool (2002)
  • Over the Sun (2004)
  • Let in the Light (2007)
  • Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright (2007)
  • Honeybee Girls (2009)
  • Secret Blood (2010)
  • In Film Sound (2013)
  • Division (2017)

References

  1. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/flightsafety-mw0000050541
  2. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/maps-of-tacit-mw0000050471
  3. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/perishable-goods-mw0001232317
  4. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/dyed-in-the-wool-mw0000010657
  5. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/over-the-sun-mw0000330139
  6. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/let-in-the-light-mw0000570936
  7. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-film-sound-mw0002507776
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