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Rusty Wright

Musician

About the artist:

www.rustywrightband.com

www.myspace.com/rustywrightblues

 

BIO

The RWB sound is guitar-based and contemporary, with a soaring B3 adding tasty layers of texture. Add dual lead vocalists, a pinch of Motor City attitude, a drop or two of humor and top it all off with a splash of southern rock and you've got a musical Molotov cocktail called the Rusty Wright Band.

Wright is an incendiary guitarist and from his first note the stage practically sizzles with high octane energy as he throws down a six-string gauntlet and challenges his band to ever greater heights as tasty guitar, Hammond B3 and vocal riffs volley back and forth across the stage. BluesBunny.com, a Scottish blues webzine describes the RWB sound as "Kind of like Poppa Chubby without the urban aggression."

Fronting the band with Wright is his wife, rhythm guitarist & vocalist Laurie LaCross-Wright, a compelling singer with a vivid and expressive vocal style that stretches with ease from a breathy, crooned endearment into a two-octave slide that becomes a throaty affirmation of her ability to wail. The chemistry between Wright and his wife is both obvious and refreshing as they exchange playful banter onstage and share anecdotes about the songs and their lives with the audience. Musically, they soar. Their passion for music and performing is evident as they take turns playing off each other. Laurie laughs with delight when Rusty plays a particularly inventive riff. His guitar work echoes the dynamics and emotion of her voice as she sings. He closes his eyes and loses himself in the music as he plays. She, in turn, looks directly out at the audience, smiling widely from the stage, as if to say You'd better believe this is every bit as fun as it looks!

PERFORMANCE COMMENTS/REVIEWS

THE WHITING April 2008 "Between acts I overheard an audience member say I had no idea that this group [Rusty Wright Blues] was opening for Etta and I have never hear them before but that performance alone was worth the price of admission. And tickets for that show were not cheap. I had people I would consider blues snobs coming up to me after the opening act asking where they can see Rusty Wright Blues perform again. That was a sure indication I had made the right choice in asking Rusty Wright Blues to open for Etta James. Rusty Wright Blues knocked the socks off our audience who now see in a new light the many talented artists we have right here in Flint." ~ Christina Bellows, Director, The Whiting

PIX THEATRE January 2008 "Some the best blues I've ever heard." ~ Craig Martin, director, Pix Theatre, Lapeer MI.

MARQUETTE BLUES FESTIVAL September 2007

"There are many who may not have heard of this band before their performance, but I doubt any will forget them afterwards. They were the darlings of the festival on Sunday. If you get a chance to get out and see them, go! go! go!" ~ Cheryl Olson, music reviewer, WOAS FM radio personality, Porcupine Music Festival Talent Coordinator

I CHEWS THE BLUES FESTIVAL August 2006 (RWB returned as the festival headliner in August 2007)

"Not many bands can make me want to dance on tabletops one minute and make me cry the next!! Thank you for being a big part of our festival." ~ Marguerite King-Goodall, Festival Chair

KALAMAZOO BLUES FESTIVAL July 2007

"When we book a band for a festival we want a full sound, great vocals, and somebody that can work the crowd. We got all of that and more with the Rusty Wright Band. That's why we keep bringing them back!" ~ Dennis Massingill, Kalamazoo Blues Festival

OWOSSO AMPHITHEATER SUMMER CONCERT SERIES July 2007

"I've been on the board for seven years and I think this was my favorite concert here at the Amphitheater - ever!" ~ Roger Squires, board member, Owosso Area Amphitheater Association

LESLIE WEST REVIVES ROCK'S HEYDAY WITH MOUNTAIN The Saginaw News Sunday, April 23, 2007

"It wasn't long before the air guitars came out Friday night at Sullivan's Black Forest Brewery. And why not? With Leslie West and Mountain turning Frankenmuth into a Fillmore Midwest and many in the audience looking as if they grew up on West's signature guitar licks, it was a night that delivered much more than "Mississippi Queen."

Kick-start it with the Rusty Wright Blues band, and it was a guitarist's dream. Believe me, not all the chills were coming from the flu bug that hit this reviewer halfway through the show. Need further proof? A quick scan of the crowd found many familiar faces, musicians themselves on the Saginaw scene, on hand to rock at the feet of a master. Wright came out blazing, with his wife, Laurie LaCross-Wright, keeping pace nearby and a pair of saxophones adding some brotherly one-upmanship. From their own "Do It Again" to a sizzling cover of the Gershwin brothers' "Summertime" and a medley of blues standards and some Stevie Ray Vaughan, they lived up to the promise of making the blues move you." ~ Sue White, Staff Writer

THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Friday, January 19, 2007

"If you weren't there last Friday night, you missed one of the most spontaneous local musical events of the season. What began as a fundraiser expected to attract a few hundred fans turned into a jam-packed, sold-out blues explosion… The location was the Davison Country Club, which was so packed by the time the band went on stage that the local fire marshal ordered them to stop taking admissions. The parking lot was filled to overflowing. Paying customers stretched to the stage area on one end of the long ballroom to the very back…" ~ Doug Pullen, Journal Columnist

LYNYRD SKYNYRD CONCERT June 2004

"Dude, where did you come from? That was great." ~ Rickey Medlocke, Lynyrd Skynyrd

BOOKING INFORMATION

National Bookings: Crystal Crawford 615-887-1169 crystal@blueeyedbooking.com

In Michigan: 810-496-3051 sadsonmusic@gmail.com

Sadson Music G4225 Miller Rd. Ste. 353 Flint, MI 48507

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  Rusty Wright

  G-4225 Miller Rd. Ste. 353
  Flint, MI 48507

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