In advance of her April 16 show at The Burl, local musician and music therapist who has recorded with Tyler Childers and Senora May discusses her recent solo debut — and most personal project to date.
For more than two decades, Cecilia Wright’s life has been guided by music in a variety of capacities, from teaching cello lessons to performing at wedding ceremonies, bars or on music festival stages. In the past six months or so, she was featured as a session musician on two of the most high profile recent Kentucky releases: Tyler Childers’ “Long Violent History” and Señora May’s “All of My Love.” Still, the Lexington musician can’t help but feel a little incredulous at the recent output of her debut solo album.
With a general demeanor that’s humbler and more observant than flashy or ostentatious, Wright was never one who dreamed of fame and fortune as a frontwoman. In recent years, she’s been quite content to play a support role for her musician friends, whether playing cello in Bear Medicine, the popular Lexington band fronted by her husband, Joshua Wright, or performing alongside local songwriter Warren Byrom as a duo or full band. But something about the pandemic, coupled with a chaotic handful of years and the milestone event of turning 30, created the perfect conditions for some introspection and songwriting, Wright said she realized one day she had a grouping of songs written, and the next thing she knew, the concept for an album began to take shape before her eyes.
“Honestly, the pandemic made me more courageous to give this a try,” she said. “I thought: So much in our lives is shut down – when will I ever have the time again to turn this into something?”
With a couple of skilled and trusted musician friends by her side, Wright entered the studio earlier this year and started recording. The album, “Another Human,” was recorded and completed over a month’s time and released into the world in February.
Though it’s certainly her very own album, with all original songs, Wright very much considers the project to be a group effort.
Cecilia Wright (bottom left) was featured instrumentalist on the album “All of My Love” by Senora May (center). Produced by Jessica LeaMayfield (top left), the album was released on Valentine’s Day 2021. Photo furnished
“I can’t stress enough how much I was helped in making this a reality – my friends who played on the album all had a hand in shaping the songs, and we couldn’t have done it without Otto,” she said, referring to local studio guru Otto Helmuth, a longtime collaborator of Wright’s who recorded and engineered the album. With Wright on guitar and vocals, her studio crew also consisted of drummer Robby Cosenza (a close friend and neighbor) and her husband on guitar. A handful of additional collaborators joined remotely to provide vocals and instrumental support, including Caroline Copley on harmonies and local pickers Byrom and J. Tom Hnatow.
Helmuth said that while COVID-19 created some hurdles in the recording process, the album came together more quickly and smoothly than he had originally thought it might.
“We sort of became a pod,” he said of the recording team, referring to the necessary COVID-19 precautions they needed to consider while making a record during the pandemic.
“Usually an album would take a lot longer to finish, but Cecilia is very organized and had a pretty clear idea of what she wanted and how to put it together,” Helmuth continued. “There was a natural ease for us; we’ve all worked together on various things before.”
Helmuth admitted that several months after the album’s release, he’s still singing the songs in his head.
“It’s a great record,” he said. “There’s a raw honesty in [Wright’s] vocals and her writing that is very attractive.”
Since its February release, the album has created a buzz around town, with many reviews, and comments have been circling back to Wright. “I had no idea what to expect, but I’ve been really touched, to be honest,” she said of the response. “I’ve had people tell me they listened, and they really relate, especially women. That feels great.”
In reviewing the album for local radio station WRFL, station DJ and longtime Trivial Thursdays host Mick Jeffries said the album has the quality of “coffee with an old friend.”
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In the past year, Cecilia Wright turned 30, opened a music therapy business, recorded on two of Kentucky’s most high profile music releases and released her debut solo album, “Another Human.” Photo by Mick Jeffries
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In the past year, Cecilia Wright turned 30, opened a music therapy business, recorded on two of Kentucky’s most high profile music releases and released her debut solo album, “Another Human.” Photo by Mick Jeffries
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In the past year, Cecilia Wright turned 30, opened a music therapy business, recorded on two of Kentucky’s most high profile music releases and released her debut solo album, “Another Human.” Photo by Mick Jeffries
“What makes ‘Another Human’ so special is Wright’s gift for imbuing personal struggles with such charming candor in song,” the review continued. “You just can’t help but feel better after listening to this magnificent debut.”
Growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee, with parents who were both accomplished musicians, Wright learned to love music early and started playing the cello in grade school. Later she played in rock bands, traveling to gigs regionally. She was gigging with the Knoxville-based modern folk band The Lonetones in 2014 when she met her husband, who was also on the road performing regionally. After a few months of a long-distance romance, Wright moved to Lexington to be with him. The couple married in 2016; they share two dogs.
In recent years, Wright took her musicianship a step further in completing training as a music therapist. Earlier this year, Wright and her business partner, Nora Veblen, opened their own Lexington music therapy practice, Wildwood Music Therapy, named for the famous Carter Family song.
“Going into a business with another woman and envisioning the potential for our impact on the community has been something positive to work toward during this challenging time,” Wright said. “We’re really excited about the possibilities for community partnerships and the flexibility that having a private practice allows for.”
In their work with Wildwood, the therapists see a wide range of clients, of various ages and needs. Wright says throughout her studies, she saw the incredible range of need for the field and worked with patients suffering with the aftereffects of stroke and others with traumatic injuries, using music as a tool to help them recover some of what they had lost.
“I have learned a lot about resilience,” she said. “It was shocking to me as a student to learn what people sometimes go through and what it takes to get them on the road to healing. It feels great to be part of that process for people.”
Photo by Mick Jeffries
Smiley Pete writer Celeste Lewis spoke with Wright recently about making music during difficult times, the therapeutic power of music and what the future holds.
How did music start in your life? When did you begin to focus on the cello? Music started in my life literally before I was born: My mother, also a cellist, was playing [and still is playing] a 300-year-old Italian cello when she was pregnant with me. My dad is a self-taught musician, so I grew up hearing music constantly. I started playing cello in fifth grade.
Tell me about making the record. As I was starting to feel more confident about the songs I was writing, I mentioned the idea of recording an EP [which ended up turning into an eight-song album] to Otto Helmuth, who thankfully was up for the project. I asked Joshua Wright [guitar] and Robby Cosenza [drums] to rehearse and record [with me on bass], which we tracked live at Otto’s studio. From there, it was a process of adding vocals and layering in additional instrumental parts. A few folks recorded parts remotely. Of course, we made every effort to do everything as safely as possible. Recording during a pandemic is a bit tricky, but it’s a pretty nice option when gigs aren’t happening.
Tell me about your songwriting process for your album. I wrote everything on guitar and made rough recordings at home before coming up with bass parts, vocal harmonies and other ideas for melodies that might complement the songs. Of course, everyone who recorded had a hand in writing and developing their parts. I’m inspired by the places I’ve been and how relationships to those places can change over time. The pandemic caused me to look outward more, trying to make sense of how so much can go so wrong at the same time and how we adapt to cope with so much chaos and devastation. Some of the songwriters who most inspire me are Michael Hurley, Fiona Apple and David Berman. I’m also inspired by the gazillion musicians I’ve played with over the years.
What’s the most personal song on the record? Probably ‘Another Human.’ I was writing some of the songs sort of in a state of crisis. I had been rethinking a lot of things, and I had been envisioning life’s obstacles. ‘Another Human’ refers to whether to bring another human into our lives [a baby] and also me being a different human after all I learned in my studies, and living with/sharing life with another human. The pandemic and all the chaos surrounding the last couple of years taught me that things are more fragile than I had known before. It taught me to be more courageous and go for it.
What led you to choose music therapy as a career? I’d been interested in music therapy for years, but there was no program in my hometown. When I made plans to move to Lexington, I found out about the program here and local music therapist Austin Robinson was generous enough to let me shadow him and ask a million questions. The more I learned and the more I observed, I realized this was the career I needed to be in. I applied for the equivalency/master’s program at the University of Kentucky, directed by Dr. Olivia Yinger.
Tell me about your work as a music therapist and the range of therapies you work with. Most of my current work is in the public schools right now, working individually with students to reinforce their individual educational goals [IEPs] through music. My clinical training involved a wide variety of settings, and I interned with UK HealthCare, where I worked with patients of all ages. One of my favorite experiences at UKHC was working with stroke patients on regaining speech functioning through singing.
What would you like people to know about the importance of music therapy? There is a growing body of research that demonstrates that music therapy can address a wide variety of goals: It can decrease the perception of pain, provide developmental support for pre-term infants, increase engagement during neurorehabilitation, provide social and emotional support for adults with dementia, provide adolescents with opportunities to explore coping skills through music, reinforce memorization of academic concepts [think back to learning your ABCs!], validate the lived experiences of marginalized communities, provide end-of-life support and the list goes on and on. I think that most people intuitively understand that music supports our well-being, but board-certified music therapists receive a tremendous amount of education and clinical training to learn how to address specific goals in a very targeted way using music.
Do you have an interesting or funny gig story you can share? I once played a wedding that happened right on the line of Eastern and Central time. Nobody knew what time it was, and there was no cell service, so half the guests showed up late and it was chaos. I also once played a Christmas gig at a church with my boyfriend at the time, who actually broke up with me in between the two services. Then, toward the end of the service, the fire alarms went off because someone in the congregation accidentally put a lit cigar in their pocket. Everyone in the parking lot was singing ‘O Holy Night’ as the firetrucks showed up, and I drove away with a broken heart.
What do you see as the future of live music as we get to return to some kind of normal in the not-too-distant future? Music venues, especially small ones, have really been hit hard during this pandemic. Musicians have, too, so it’s going to be really tough. As independent artists, we might have to be a bit more flexible and work with music venues to figure out something that works for everyone. The biggest thing that will make that flexibility possible is if people put money directly into the pockets of musicians by buying music and merch from them directly, rather than just streaming music for free. Personally, I’m also hoping that house concerts become more common as a way to support musicians directly and also provide spaces that prioritize a listening experience.
What’s next? I am thinking about writing and recording some instrumental music. Leading this recording project, and now preparing a live show, I’m thinking about the story I am trying to tell and how to bring that to life with all of these musical ingredients. And it’s all made better by listening to the ideas of the musicians I’m playing with. I really enjoyed it all especially the role of producing. I think I’d enjoy producing for other people and working with their music. It was incredibly interesting to take all the pieces and work with all the layers. I want to do it again.
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Photo by Mick Jeffries
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Photo by Mick Jeffries