Dusty Wright (born Mark J. Petracca) is an American musician, producer, and writer, and a former editor-in-chief of the music magazine ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is a monthly American music magazine, based in Detroit, whose main print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. Influential crit ...

''. In August 2005, he co-founded the audio podcasting and video webcasting online pop-culture magazine CultureCatch.com, which features his interview series ''The Dusty Wright Show''. Interviews from the show were among the first video and audio podcasts featured at iTunes with such guests as

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...

, Jim Marshall,

Budd Hopkins Elliot Budd Hopkins (June 15, 1931 – August 21, 2011) was an American artist, author, and ufologist. He was a prominent figure in alien abduction phenomena and related UFO research. Life Elliot Budd Hopkins was born in 1931. He was rai ...

, and CultureCatch.com board advisor David Lynch.

Early life

Dusty Wright was born Mark J. Petracca. He grew up in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

.Brady, Lois Smith (May 11, 1997)
"Bobbie Lloyd and Mark Petracca"
''The New York Times''. He attended St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and received his BA from the University of Akron.

Career

Wright is a former editor-in-chief of

and Prince's ''New Power Generation''. The Dusty Wright screenplay ''The Gentleman Bandit'' was screened at the AFM and Malibu Film Festivals in 2000 and Wright served as music consultant for the 2004 Johnny Depp movie ''

Secret Window ''Secret Window'' is a 2004 American psychological thriller film starring Johnny Depp and John Turturro. It was written and directed by David Koepp, based on the novella '' Secret Window, Secret Garden'' by Stephen King, featuring a musical sco ...

''. Wright was producer on the 2005 documentary ''Wildwood Days'' and on the 2008 documentary ''Airplay: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio''. Wright was co-head writer on Cee Lo Green's show ''Talking To Strangers'' on

Fuse.tv Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyle programming targeting multi ...

. As a singer/songwriter Wright contributed the song "Speed of Life" for contemporary American artist Ron English on his compilation ''English 101'', and recorded "Ramble On" for the

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

tribute "The Song Retains The Name, Volume 2 (Safehouse Records) as well as a track for "Baseball (America's Game)" on Nolan Ryan: A Musical Tribute. Wright's song "I'm Still In Love (w/You)" is featured in David Koepp’s 2008 film ''

Ghost Town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

'' and the video for "Secret Window" from ''If We Never...'' was awarded "Best Music Video" at the 2011 Los Angeles Film & Script Festival. Wright's song "Swirl" was featured on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

6 Music by music critic Rob Hughes and former member of rock group The Fall, and British DJ

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961 in Manchester) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of the Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Ta ...

. ''If We Never...'' received three stars from Hughes in his ''Americana Roundup'' column in the September 2011 issue of ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' magazine. Wright hosts the twice-weekly online radio show ''Dusty Wright's Dusty Roads'' on the website of Transcendental Music, a charity music label founded by filmmaker David Lynch. He is a contributor to ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. As of 2014 Wright was working on a documentary film about Jesse A. Marcel Jr., the son of

Roswell Incident The Roswell incident was an event that occurred in 1947, pertaining to the recovery of mundane metallic and rubber debris from a military balloon that crashed near Corona, New Mexico by United States Army Air Forces officers from Roswell Army ...

witness Jesse A. Marcel, entitled ''Growing Up With Roswell''. The film, which is written by Leonard J. Marcel, the cousin of Marcel Jr., focuses on how the Roswell Incident has affected the entire Marcel family. Filming began in late July/early August 2014, and its locations include Helena, Montana, where Marcel Jr. lived, as well as

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

and Roswell. Production is estimated to last 18 months, in the hopes of having the film completed in time for the UFO Festival in Roswell in July 2015.Deedy, Alexander (August 13, 2014)
"Late Helena doctor focus of new UFO documentary"
''

The Montana Standard ''The Montana Standard'' is a Lee Enterprises daily newspaper and website in Butte, Montana. In 1971, under the leadership of Betty Danfield, the paper's women's section The women's page (sometimes called home page or women's section) of a new ...

''.

Personal life

In 1995, friends introduced Wright to culinary businesswoman Bobbie Lloyd, who would later become Chief Baking Officer for Magnolia Bakery in 2006, and a judge on the

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

reality television series ''The Next Great Baker''.Nededog, Jethro (Aprlil 30, 2014)
"TLC's 'Next Great Baker' Returns for Season 4 in June With a Few Twists"

The Wrap ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

."Bitch at Us: Bobbie Lloyd of Magnolia Bakery"
Bitches Who Brunch. July 24, 2014. Wright proposed to her in September 1996. On May 4, 1997 they married in a

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

wedding ceremony at the Kim Foster Gallery in

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

. They live in New York City, on Manhattan's

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

. They have two children. Wright studies

tai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. ...

Discography

*''Dusty Wright'' (1997) *''dust!'' (2000) *''GIANTfingers'' (2002) *''Elevened'' (2004) *''Ghost Town EP'' (2008) *''If We Never...'' (2011) *''Caterwauling Towards The Light'' (2017) *''Gliding Towards Oblivion'' (2018) *''Can Anyone Hear Me?'' (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Dusty Living people American male musicians People from Akron, Ohio HuffPost writers and columnists American documentary filmmakers 1957 births