A tall, gown-clad woman amidst a field of blossoming flowers with a pensive Luther Wright in the background marks the entrance of the musician’s newest album, Man of Your Dreams.
The ethereal cover artwork by local artist Carolyn Linton sets the tone of the album even before you press play. In fact, Wright’s dreams are so esocteric, he wants another word to describe them.
“It leads perfectly into what the album is about. Does the man of your dreams exist?” Wright asked. “Dreams are a separate reality, but we refer to them in a waking state. There should almost be another word for them.” But he’s not quick to suggest that the title track “Man of Your Dreams,” which features the heartbreaking lyrics “I’m starting to see I’m not the man of your dreams,” nor any other of his songs, is taken from a ripped page of his diary.
“It’s not my journal,” Wright laughs. “I like to say that they’re not songs about me—they are songs .” Luther Wright may seem like the quintessential country man, but he hasn’t been a lifelong resident of the rural Ontario backdrop.
“I lived in Toronto for six years and worked in the film business, but my brother and I, we were interested in living in the freedom of the country,” Wright recalled.
“[We liked] growing our own food, and having the space. You can also be louder in the country.” The countryside did Luther Wright good.
Playing in various bands including Sarah Harmer’s early indie rock project Weeping Tile, he then went on to form the country and bluegrass band Luther Wright and The Wrongs.
Though Wright’s a country boy at heart, his music doesn’t promote the what he describes as “new country lifestyle.”
“With new country, I guess everybody lives in monster homes, drive SUVs and has big hair,” Wright said.
Wright’s latest record certainly isn’t singing about driving SUVs.
Recorded in his home studio an hour’s drive outside of Kingston, Wright was able to produce an album representative of his state of mind.
“There’s somewhat a theme about moving through things,” Wright said.
“The songs are written from a specific space, like a bar or a town in Alberta.” If the album includes songs that sound familiar to Wright’s live audiences, it’s because they took years to fully come to life.
“Some songs I’ve been playing for a while. With some songs I know when they are ready to record. Some songs need to find their feet in the live shows.” Wright has a large group of musicians behind him, including guitarist Dan Curtis, Casey Fisher on drums, Emily Fennell on keyboards and vocals and Dan Whiteley on mandolin.
Wright oversaw the album’s direction to maintain its independent perspective.
“It’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen sometimes—so it was nice, after all these years, I think I can actually trust my own ears.”
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Luther Wright will be playing a CD release party at The Grad Club tomorrow night, along with guest Matt Shine. Tickets are $10 at The Grad Club.
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