Shannon Wright is an American singer-songwriter. She was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

, United States, where she spent her childhood. Former member of the band Crowsdell, Shannon Wright moved from New York to

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ...

in 1998, and while in Chapel Hill, Wright started writing songs and playing them for friends. With their encouragement she sent a 4-track cassette tape to a friend of a friend who started Overcoat Records. They released her first 7" ''A Tin Crown for the Social Bash''. Later that year, Wright signed with

Touch and Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. ...

in 1999 from Chicago, releasing six albums. Wright signed with Vicious Circle (France) in 2003 and continues to release records with them. In 2012, Wright signed with Ernest Jennings and released ''Secret Blood'' and ''In Film Sound'' in the States.

Recording career

''FlightSafety'' Wright's first record received critical acclaim for her lyrics and songwriting abilities. ''FlightSafety'' consists of simple guitar and piano chord progressions with vocal melodies. Wright plays almost all the instruments on this release and all other releases following FlightSafety. ''Maps of Tacit'' Recorded with Andy Baker and Steve Albini. "Overall, ''Maps of Tacit'' finds Wright growing more adventurous both as a composer and performer; it's a dark and challenging work, yet it isn't off-putting or overly harrowing, and its bracing experimentalism and originality suggest even greater things to come." – ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

'' review by Steve Huey. ''Perishable Goods'' was a limited mini-album compiled of appearances by:

Alan Sparhawk Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *A ...

of Low,

Crooked Fingers Crooked Fingers was an American indie rock band, led by the former Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann. A vehicle for Bachmann's songwriting, the band's lineup changed between each record. Crooked Fingers released albums on WARM Records and Merg ...

, and Rachel Grimes and Christian Fredrickson from

Rachel's Rachel's were an American chamber music group that formed in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1991. Former Rodan guitarist Jason Noble played music individually and referred to himself as Rachel's but then began collaborating with core members violist Ch ...

. ''Dyed in the Wool'', recorded with Andy Baker and Steve Albini. Appearances on the album include label-mates

Shipping News Shipping News was an American post-rock/post-hardcore band. The group formed in the fall of 1996 when members Jason Noble and Jeff Mueller, who were both in Rodan, collaborated to create music for the Chicago-based syndicated National Public ...

and

Heather Macintosh Heather may refer to: Plants *The heather family, or Ericaceae, particularly: **Common heather or ling, ''Calluna'' **Various species of the genus ''Cassiope'' **Various species of the genus ''Erica'' Name * Heather (given name) * Heather (su ...

. ''Over the Sun'' recorded with

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

; although Wright had recorded with Albini before on several occasions (''Maps of Tacit'' & ''Dyed in the Wool''), this was the first time Wright and Albini completed a full-length record together. This album comes closest to capturing her raw live-performances. ''Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright''; Sharing 50–50 songwriting credits with French musician and composer Yann Tiersen. ''Let in the Light'' recorded with Andy Baker. Wright moves back to her slightly simpler instrumentation and recording styles, exploring

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

and unorthodox piano melodies with a bit of classical influence. "Shannon Wright is an example of that shocking, spooky thing: a natural." –

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''Honeybee Girls'' Piano, organ, guitars, violin, cello with indistinct tones. ''Secret Blood'' ''In Film Sound'' was recorded in 2013 with

Kevin Ratterman Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. Recorded mostly live as a three-piece with Todd Cook on bass and Kyle Crabtree on drums. "It's emblematic of the tense, discomforting oeuvre Wright favors from terse noisy bursts of guitar to moody minor key elegies." –

Creative Loafing Creative Loafing is an Atlanta-based publisher of a monthly arts and culture newspaper/magazine. The company publishes a 60,000 circulation monthly publication which is distributed to in-town locations and neighborhoods on the first Thursday of ...

''Division'' – 2017 album recorded in Paris and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

KML Studios Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML notation for expressing geographic annotation and visualization within two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers. KML was developed for use with Google Earth, which was originally named Key ...

with

David Chalmin David Chalmin is a French composer, producer, sound engineer and musician. He's a member of the trio Triple Sun. His collaborations extend from classical music to experimental rock: Katia and Marielle Labèque, Thom Yorke, The National (band), Ma ...

. "Wright's songwriting reaches a new perfection in the most tenuous murmurs, where it is still a tear that works, an evil that clings, a fermenting poison. The nuances are all here: less guitar and more piano give the impression of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small nu ...

– but flooded – or aquarium – but overturned. This frightened indecision, this trouble of the eyes too wide open, is the very art of Shannon Wright, very pure singer, too rare." – Les Inrocks Paris, France

Filmscores

* Original score for the film ''

Les Confins du Monde ''To the Ends of the World'' (french: Les Confins du Monde) is a 2018 French film directed by Guillaume Nicloux. It was selected to screen in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Gaspard Ulliel : Robert Tasse ...

'' – "

To the Ends of the World ''To the Ends of the World'' (french: Les Confins du Monde) is a 2018 French film directed by Guillaume Nicloux. It was selected to screen in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Gaspard Ulliel : Robert Tasse ...

". Directed by:

Guillaume Nicloux Guillaume Nicloux (born 3 August 1966) is a French novelist, director and actor. He is the founder of the theatre company La Troupe. He has written crime fiction and directed films for cinema and French television. He won the Best Screenplay Awar ...

. Starring

Gaspard Ulliel Gaspard Thomas Ulliel (; 25 November 198419 January 2022) was a French actor. He was known for having portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in ''Hannibal Rising'' (2007), fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic '' Saint Laurent'' (2014 ...

. Screened at the 2018

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

in the Directors' Fortnight section. * Original score by Shannon Wright for the documentary ''Homemade''.

Other works

* Wright provided songs for '' The Key'' (French: ''La Clef''), a 2007 French thriller film directed by

and starring

Guillaume Canet Guillaume Canet (; born 10 April 1973) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, and show jumper. Canet began his career in theatre and television before moving to film. He starred in several films like '' Joyeux Noël'', '' Love Me I ...

. * Wright provided vocals for "Last Things Last" on ''

Systems/Layers ''Systems/Layers'' is the final LP by the instrumental group Rachel's. It was released on October 7, 2003, on Quarterstick Records. The album is a collaborative dance/theater piece with the New York ensemble SITI Company. The album peaked at No ...

'' for the band Rachel's. * Wright covered the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

song "

I Started a Joke "I Started a Joke" is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album ''Idea'', which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to co ...

" on Perishable Goods E.P. * Wright covers

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

song "

Asleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

" on both A Junior Hymn / Asleep and Honeybee Girls * Wright played

All Tomorrow's Parties "All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of Andy Warh ...

in 2002 UK curated by

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...

, 2003 ATP/PACIFIC curated by

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...

, 2007 UK curated by Dirty Three and the 2012 UK ATP curated again by

* "

Hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associate ...

" from Wright's ''Dyed in the Wool'' was used in

Julien Levy Julien Levy (1906–1981) was an art dealer and owner of Julien Levy Gallery in New York City, important as a venue for Surrealists, avant-garde artists, and American photographers in the 1930s and 1940s. Biography Levy was born in New York. Aft ...

's movie ''The Shape of Art to Come'' (2011).

Album discography

* ''Flightsafety'' (1999) * ''Maps of Tacit'' (2000) * ''Perishable Goods'' (2001) * ''Dyed in the Wool'' (2002) * ''Over the Sun'' (2004) * ''Let in the Light'' (2007) * ''Yann Tiersen & Shannon Wright'' (2007) * ''Honeybee Girls'' (2009) * ''Secret Blood'' (2010) * ''In Film Sound'' (2013) * ''Division'' (2017) * ''Providence'' (2019)

References

External links

Shannon Wright Official Facebook Page

Shannon Wright's USA Record Label

Shannon Wright's French Record Label
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Shannon American alternative rock musicians American indie rock musicians Women songwriters Art rock musicians American rock songwriters American rock singers Touch and Go Records artists Women punk rock singers Singers from New York City American punk rock singers Songwriters from Florida Songwriters from New York (state) Guitarists from New York City Musicians from Jacksonville, Florida 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers