Canadian country artist Michelle Wright is coming to the TransCanada Theatre.
Wright will be performing there May 16, 7:30 p.m., as part of the Grand Olds Opry, presented by the Olds Kiwanis Performing Arts Society.
While Wright is the headliner of the show, local artists Dustin Farr and Nolan Ray will also accompany her on stage. Fiddler Denis Dufresne of Calgary is also on the bill.
The Ontario artist is a two-time winner of the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Fans’ Choice Award and has been inducted into the CCMA Hall of Fame.
While mainly having success in Canada, Wright has also seen success in the U.S. in the 1990s with her song Take It Like a Man hitting number 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Song Charts top 40 and other songs like He Would Be Sixteen at 31 and New Kind of Love at 32.
Olds is seen as a small town at a population of 9,184 people, but Wright grew up in the town of Merlin, Ont. with a population of 750 and describes coming to Olds as “coming to the big city.”
Prior to making it big, Wright was part of a local to Ontario band that she performed with from 1980 to '83.
In 1985 Wright signed a record deal with Savannah Records and released her debut single the following year, I Want to Count on You, which peaked on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart at number 48.
Wright has had six number 1 hits in Canada. Fans of Wright can expect to hear some of those hits in May, like Take It Like a Man, Safe in the Arms of Love, and He Would Be Sixteen.
“The thing that puts the smile on my face every day is the fans out there who have given me many, many hit records,” said Wright. “So what they’re going to hear is all those hit records they gave me through the years.”
She also said she'll be performing two new songs.
Two songs she has been working on are Attitude is Everything, and Love In This Day.
While Wright did not write these new songs, she stresses the importance and meaning that they have to her.
“Attitude is Everything is just a great song, it’s an inspiring song and an uplifting song,” Wright said. “You’re going to get kicked around a little bit but you got to buck up, put your big girl pants on and get it done.”
The second song Love In This Day has come across Wright’s desk for 15 years.
“I finally recorded it and I’m just so happy that I did,” said Wright. “That song always just really struck a chord with me and it strikes a chord even deeper now after I’ve done some living, loving and losing and overcoming and all those things that we do.”
