Kat Wright

Kat Wright is an American singer and songwriter based in Burlington, Vermont, U.S.[1]

Kat Wright
OriginRochester, New York, U.S.
Genressoul · folk · rock · R&B
Years active2010 - present
Websitewww.katwright.com

Biography

Wright was born in Rochester, New York, where she attended Our Lady of Mercy High School and later received a BAFA from Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Her first forays into touring began in 2009 with a folk project consisting of Wright and her childhood best-friend Maggie Clifford called Loveful Heights. They released a full-length album recorded by Ryan Power in 2012.[2]

In 2010, having newly relocated to Vermont, Wright formed a group for a Thursday-night residency at the Radio Bean on North Winooski Ave in Burlington, Vermont, a venue Wright co-owns with her husband and Radio Bean founder Lee Anderson. The residency lasted weekly for more than five years before touring elsewhere took precedence.

In the years since, Wright has expanded from shows solely in her adopted hometown of Burlington, VT and has toured throughout US. She has primarily toured with both her 8-piece soul band as well as a newly formed acoustic trio with longtime band mates Josh Weinstein (bass) and Bob Wagner (guitar). The acoustic trio made its live debut supporting The Wood Brothers in early 2020 with stops at the newly reopened Webster Hall in New York City, The Fillmore in Philadelphiaand the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.

In 2018 Wright was a featured performer in the Eugene Jarecki music documentary The King. Set against the 2016 presidential election, The King takes a musical road trip across America in Elvis Presley's 1963 Rolls Royce. The mission, forty years after the singer's death, is to find the country he left behind – a nation that, like Elvis, started out young, beautiful, and promising, yet succumbed over time to the corrosive influences of addiction, money, and power. The King paints a cultural portrait of the American dream at a critical time in the nation’s history. It explores, through music and verité, how a country boy lost his authenticity and became a “King,” while his country lost her democracy and became an empire. Featuring cameos from the likes of Alec Baldwin, Chuck D, Emmylou Harris, Ethan Hawke, and, Mike Myers, the doc explores forty years after the death of Elvis Presley, where Jarecki takes the King’s 1963 Rolls-Royce on a musical road trip across the country Presley left behind. From the deep south to New York, Las Vegas, and beyond, a tapestry of luminaries and unknown Americans join the journey, expressing themselves in words and song. The film made it's worldwide debut at Cannes Film Festival in 2017 & will debut in the US at Sundance in January 2018. In 2019 the film was nominated for a Grammy award in the 'Best Music Film' category, as well as two Emmy nominations in the 'Best Documentary' & 'Outstanding Historical Documentary' categories.

Wright has supported Kacey Musgraves, Grace Potter, Marco Benevento, Rubblebucket, Lawrence, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Wood Brothers, Leftover Salmon, Ryan Montbleau, Soulive, The Motet, The Original Wailers, Leon Russell & more.[3]

Notable touring includes an appearance at NPR's Mountain Stage in 2018, two appearances at the Syracuse Jazz Festival as well as appearances at the Montreal International Jazz Festival [4] in 2017, Jam Cruise, Burlington Discover Jazz Fest, Summer Camp Music Festival, Green River Festival, Grace Potter's Grand Point North, and the Brooklyn Bowl.[5] In 2019, she appeared at moe.down in Turin, NY and The Peach Music Festival in Scranton, PA.[6]

Wright's debut EP, Introducing... was released in 2013, credited to Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band. As well as soul, it showed jam band and hip-hop influences.[7] The EP was chosen as one of the top 10 best Vermont Made Recordings by Seven Days Newspaper in 2013.[8] In 2014 the readers of the paper voted her Vermont's "Best funk/R&B artist or group" and "Best jazz/blues artist or group".[9] Wright also recorded a live album at Signal Kitchen, Burlington in April 2014.[10]

Wright's first full-length album, By My Side, was produced / recorded by Joel Hamilton (Pretty Lights, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello) at Studio G, Brooklyn and independently released in November 2016.[11]

In April 2019, Wright began production on her second full length album with producer Eric Krasno.[12] In October, she was invited to be the featured guest vocalist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra for their fall program.[13]

Wright remains proud of her Vermont heritage and has vocally supported the politics of Bernie Sanders, campaigning as a surrogate with him and performing at his rallies during his 2016 presidential campaign.[14]

Discography
  • Introducing (EP) - 2013
  • By My Side - 2016

References
  1. "Kat Wright & The Indomitable Soul Band reprise 2013 Jazz Fest show at Westcott Theater Friday". syracuse.com. May 15, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  2. "Front-Row Seat: A soulful return to Rochester for Kat Wright". Daily Messenger. January 31, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  3. "Leon Russell, Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band". Seven Days. August 6, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  4. "Kat Wright". Montreal Jazz Festival. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  5. "Gedeon Luke & The People, Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band". Brooklyn Bowl. April 16, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  6. "Peach festival's amazing lineup wows all weekend". DC Music Review. August 1, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  7. DeBlase, Frank (9 April 2014). "ALBUM REVIEW: ".... Introducing Kat Wright and the Indomitable Soul Band"". Rochester City Newspaper. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  8. Bolles, Dan. "Recapping the Top Vermont Made Recordings of 2013". Seven Days. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  9. "Best Arts & Entertainment in Vermont". Seven Days. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  10. "Soundbites: Record Story Day, Album news from Kat Wright". Seven Days. April 16, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  11. "Kat Wright throws a party for first album, 'By My Side'". Burlington Free Press. November 17, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  12. "Kat Wright's Indomitable & Sustainable Soul". Jambase. September 11, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  13. "With Kat Wright show, Vermont Symphony Orchestra moves forward on winning strategy". Burlington Free Press. October 24, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  14. "Kat Wright & The Indomitable Soul Band Release Their First Full-Length Album". VPR. November 18, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
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