Kat Wright is an American singer and songwriter based in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

, U.S.

Biography

Wright was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, where she attended Our Lady of Mercy High School and later received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred (village), New York, Alfred, New York. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The ...

Alfred, New York Alfred is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 4,896 at the 2020 census. The Town of Alfred has a village named Alfred in the center of the town. Alfred University and Alfred State College are located in th ...

. 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. In 2010, having newly relocated to

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, Wright formed a group for a Thursday-night residency at the ''Radio Bean'' on North Winooski Ave in

, 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, Vermont 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 The Wood Brothers are an American roots band consisting of brothers Chris (upright bass) and Oliver Wood (acoustic and electric guitars), as well as multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix. Their music is a combination of folk, gospel, blues and jazz. ...

in early 2020 with stops at the newly reopened

Webster Hall Webster Hall is a nightclub and concert venue located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. It is one of New York City's most historically significant ...

in New York City,

The Fillmore The Fillmore is a historic music venue in San Francisco, California. Built in 1912 and originally named the Majestic Hall, it became the Fillmore Auditorium in 1954. It is in Western Addition, on the edge of the Fillmore District and Upper Fil ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and the

Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (also known as Grand Ole Opry House and Union Gospel Tabernacle) is a 2,362-seat live-performance venue located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in Nashville, Tennessee. It is best known as the home of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' fr ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tennessee. In 2017, Wright alongside Clifford were featured performers in the

Eugene Jarecki Eugene Jarecki (born October 5, 1969) is an American filmmaker and author. He is best known as a two-time winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, as well as multiple Emmy and Peabody Awards, for his films '' Why We Fight'', ''Reagan'', and '' T ...

music documentary '' The King''. Wright has supported

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...

Grace Potter Grace Evelyn Potter (born June 20, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who formed Grace Potter and the Nocturnals in 2002. Potter released her debut solo record ''Original Soul'' on 2004 via Grace Potter Music. Potter and her b ...

Marco Benevento Marco Benevento (born July 22, 1977) is an American pianist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, who has been a fixture of the New York experimental music rock and jazz scene since 1999. He is the founder and recording e ...

Rubblebucket Rubblebucket is an American art-pop and indie-rock band from Brooklyn, New York. The primary members are musical couple (now separated) Annakalmia Traver and Alex Toth. Formation Alex Toth (trumpet, band leader) and Kalmia Traver (vocals, saxoph ...

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band,

Leftover Salmon Leftover Salmon is an American jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. The band's music is a blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco. Over their thirty years as a band Salmon have released seven studio albums and three li ...

Ryan Montbleau Ryan Michael Montbleau (born June 18, 1977, in Peabody, Massachusetts, United States) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He annually tours across the U.S. with the Ryan Montbleau Band. Background Although he received his first gui ...

Soulive Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York, and is known for its solos and catchy, upbeat songs. The band consists of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans ( Hammond B3 organ, bass keys, clavinet). Alth ...

, The Motet,

The Original Wailers The Original Wailers are a reggae group formed by Al Anderson and Junior Marvin in 2008. Both are best known as guitarists for Bob Marley and the Wailers as well as former members of The Wailers Band. In April 2011, Marvin departed the ban ...

and

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

. 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 The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fest ...

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. In 2019, she appeared at moe.down in Turin, New York and

The Peach Music Festival The Peach Music Festival is a music festival started by the Allman Brothers Band and Live Nation Entertainment that has been held annually since 2012 at the Pavilion at Montage Mountain and Montage Mountain Ski Resort in Scranton, Pennsylvania ...

in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 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 A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cr ...

and hip-hop influences. The EP was chosen as one of the top 10 best Vermont Made Recordings by Seven Days Newspaper in 2013. 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". Wright also recorded a live album at Signal Kitchen, Burlington in April 2014. 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 Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and independently released in November 2016. In April 2019, Wright began production on her second full length album with producer

Eric Krasno Soulive is a funk/jazz trio that originated in Woodstock, New York, and is known for its solos and catchy, upbeat songs. The band consists of Eric Krasno (guitar), Alan Evans (drums) and Neal Evans ( Hammond B3 organ, bass keys, clavinet). Alth ...

. In October, she was invited to be the featured guest vocalist with the

Vermont Symphony Orchestra The Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a symphony orchestra based in, and supported in part by, the U.S. state of Vermont. It is a 501(c)(3) corporation. It is one of the few, and the oldest, state-supported symphony orchestras in the United St ...

for their fall program. Wright remains proud of her Vermont heritage and has vocally supported the politics of

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

, campaigning as a surrogate with him and performing at his rallies during his 2016 presidential campaign. She supports the

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

and uses refillable water bottles during touring. In 2018, she opened a booth called Katnip Vintage at The Vault Collective, a much loved vintage clothing group shop in Burlington, Vermont.

Discography

*''Introducing'' (EP) – 2013 *''By My Side'' – 2016 * ''Trio Sessions Vol. 1'' (EP) - 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Kat Singers from Vermont American soul singers American women pop singers Musicians from Burlington, Vermont Songwriters from Vermont 21st-century American women singers Musicians from Rochester, New York Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Alfred University alumni American women singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters