Country Next: Carlisle Wright

Currently in her third year at Belmont University and set to graduate in May, Carlisle Wright is already making a name for herself while staying true to the traditional country sound she was raised on in Tennessee.

As a fourth-generation singer-songwriter, music has always been a part of Wright’s life, but she’s determined to carve out a path of her own. That drive has already led her to some major stages, including her Grand Ole Opry debut, CMA Fest and Nissan Stadium, where she opened for her great-uncle Alan Jackson at his final concert in Nashville.

Wright is also giving fans a better look at who she is through her recent single, “Wright Kinda Country,” which serves as is an unapologetic introduction into her roots and unique sound that blends classic country with a modern flair. Written alongside Nicole Witt and Matt McClure, the fiddle-laced track pulls from Wright’s real-life experiences and the people that shaped her love for the genre.

Wright has no plans of slowing down. In fact, as she continues to gain momentum, she remains fully committed to pursuing the career she’s passionate about, with no Plan B in sight. With graduation just around the corner and her next release, “Born In A Dive Bar” on the way there’s plenty more to look forward to from this rising country artist.

Keep reading to learn more about how Carlisle Wright is keeping traditional country music alive, her musical upbringing, the milestones she achieved this summer, and more.

When do you remember your love for music really starting to form?

So I feel like I’ve probably been singing since I could talk as far as just sitting in the back of the car and listening to music and whatever. And in preschool, I went to a Montessori center that’s off Granny White in Nashville, and they make you pick an instrument to learn. So…preschool, so that two to three age range, is when I picked up guitar for the first time and figured it out. I don’t even know how my hand fit around in front, but it’s to some extent. And then just once I got to kindergarten, I started taking piano lessons from my uncle and did that till fourth grade, got bored of piano and switched back to guitar. But fourth grade was the first time I recorded a solo written song. It was a Christmas song I had given to my family. And I feel like that’s the first time I can pinpoint as far as the writing goes, finishing a song. 

As a fourth-generation singer/songwriter, was your home full of music all the time?

Yeah, a lot of it was classic country. My dad would make these CDs that we called “Sleepy Time CDs” because he’s a pilot and so he’s gone and has been gone, if you think about it, pretty much half my life, which is crazy to think about. And so my mom grew up on classic rock, so when I was with her so much growing up and I would hear a lot of that influence and my dad’s like, “Nah, she’s got to learn the good stuff too.” So he made those CDs and it was just a thing to put them on my CD player every night before I went to bed. And once I picked up a guitar, that’s the sound that I clung to. 

You mentioned that you began songwriting at an early age, but when did you really start performing in front of an audience?

I did every single one of the elementary school talent shows, and I distinctly remember and have seen pictures and videos since. I sang “Mama Tried,” I think first or second grade, and I wore a pearl snap and literally the guitar, there’s this one picture of me walking down the school hallways with a guitar that’s bigger than I was at the time. But I always make a joke of no one my age at the elementary school probably knew what the heck I was singing, but the teachers loved it. 

What was your experience transitioning to life at Belmont University and how has that helped continue to establish your career in country music?

Belmont was the only school I applied to, and I knew right away that the songwriting degree was what I wanted. And quickly once I got there, figured out that music business was the minor I wanted to attach to that because I’ve just learned so much in the business side. And once I got to Belmont, quickly realized that there’s very few country writer artists and a small, small, small fraction of that was traditional. There’s really not any of us. And before Belmont, I didn’t co-write a whole lot. It was pretty much all solo writing and adapting to the co-writing culture, coming to Belmont was I think one of the biggest transitions and something that now is incorporated into every single day of my life pretty much. And then the first thing I wanted to do when I got there was form a band because I love playing live and bringing original songs to life as well as playing my favorite ones, covers and such, because my dad has a band that he performs with for fun. And I’m like, I need one of my own age people who love it as much as I do. So started a band, October of my freshman year was the first practice that we had. And then some players have changed, but we’ve had a lot of gigs under our belt already and now it’s two year going on now that a lot of them have been with me. 

How did it feel to win the Belmont Showcase Series this past spring?

I went to it my freshman year like, “This is so awesome. I need to do this.” And so we applied as soon as we could apply and they’re the best people because they have my back always and support me always, but it’s also a lot of time and effort that is unpaid because it’s a school thing. 
And I could not have done that without them because it’s definitely a lot of yourself and your energy to give to something like that. And so we found out that we got a live audition and then we did the live audition and found out that night that we were in the four. So then we got to perform. And I feel like that was a huge moment of all of our practices and all of our, excuse my French, sh***y bar gigs and everything else that we’ve played have put the chemistry on stage to the test and proved itself. 

What are your plans after graduating next spring?

It’s a whole lot of doing exactly what I’m doing, just hopefully more of it and not having to study for tests. That’s what I’m looking forward to doing and manifesting that hopefully in the near future there’ll be an on-the-road position. That’s what I’m really hoping for. 

What did it mean to you to get to perform at your great uncle, Alan Jackson’s final concert in Nashville this summer?

It was a super bittersweet moment. Labor Day weekend actually was the one-year mark of when he had asked/told me to play this time last year for the show. So it was nine months of anticipation leading up to it, which is a long time. And a lot of that time I couldn’t even tell people about it. So when the day finally came, it was so just exciting, but bittersweet at the same time because I feel like classic country in general just has that nostalgic feeling to it. And I think that’s why so many people enjoy it and can always go back to it, even if that’s not what they listen to on the daily. And for me and my family in particular, we grew up going to Uncle Hat’s shows every time he had a tour, at least one. And so his shows are the soundtrack of growing up and seeing each phase of what each tour looked like and what the venue was and the difference of the venue in five years from then. And so knowing that that was the last show we were going to see, there was definitely tears, that’s for sure. 

It’s crazy to think that, yes, I’m only 20, but the 20 years of listening to a person’s concert is a lot of years. I just think there’s no show like his. And so that day was super special, getting to hear his set for the first time and then being a part of it myself was just, that was always a bucket list thing and I didn’t know it was going to happen. So it was really cool. 

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What has it been like having his support as you’ve pursued your own path in music?

I always love getting to sit down and talk with him and hear his stories. And he’s like, “Well, you got to do this. Don’t do this.” It’s really cool to hear it from somebody like that, but also someone so close to you as well. 

Is there one piece of advice he’s given you that has really stuck with you?

Well, minus the keeping it country, of course, I think the main thing would be to be yourself. He told me that and was like, “You don’t need to put on a costume and be like somebody else or write songs that you’re not actually living. If you’re yourself and you are confident in that, it’s going to show and it’s going to attract to people.” I just think that’s so important because in today’s day and age especially, it’s hard to do exactly what you want, even if it’s not what other people are looking for out of you. 

Shortly after the milestone Alan Jackson show, you got make your Grand Ole Opry debut. How was that night for you?

It gives you chills. That place is just so historical, and being in the circle for the first time was just a what the heck moment because it’s something I’ve dreamt about for literally my whole life. And being there to walking that backstage and just looking at all the pictures and getting to sign the little book that people sign when they make their debut, it’s so crazy cool to think how far history has come in country music and where it stands now, but also getting to be a part of where it’s going, I think was just full circle.

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Digging into new music, you most recently released “Wright Kinda Country.” Talk about writing this one.

I kind of just clung to the idea of my family and I, with the last name that we have, we always make jokes about our way being the “Wright way.” And so I was like, “Oh, I want to write ‘Wright Kinda Country.’” And going along with that, I get asked so many times since I’m younger, “Why do you like classic country?” or, “Really, what does that mean to you?” And I feel like every time I get asked, I have a better way to describe it, but it’s definitely still a hard question to pinpoint an answer on. And so I brought this idea into the room and we started writing it and then we had packed up for the day and the next time we came back to it, pretty much rewrote what we had already written because I’m like, “This is actually what we need to say.” And it was just picking what I felt like were pinpoint moments of the life that I have lived, even though it’s not long, as far as this is when music started, this is the sound and who I got it from. And I don’t know, just as far as even the little lines of “honky-tonkitis,” my dad puts out music for fun and that is one of his song titles. And not many people know that, but that’s kind of why I said it because honky-tonks are a big part of my brand and the places I play, but then things like that that tie back to him. And I don’t know, it was just a getting to pull together my why of classic country. 

What other new music do you have in the works that fans should know about?

Yeah, so we do have a new song coming out in a couple weeks. I have not announced yet, but top of October will be another one, and it’s called “Born in a Dive Bar.” It’s another honky-tonk style song, but it kind of talks about, I always tell people when I play it live, I’m like, “Childhood looked a little different as far as my parents were not afraid of taking me to Honky-tonk dive bars.” And so whether it was listening to a family, a friend, a mentor, or playing it, I just felt like I’ve grown up in that scene of music. And no, I wasn’t actually born in a dive bar because I’ve had people ask me that. Just feels like it. Wrote that song with one of my songwriting heroes, Mark Irwin, and I’m very excited about that release. And so as far as that goes, yeah, we have some other songs and I’m getting ready to record some new ones. So definitely working towards a bigger project that will hopefully see the light of day next year.