Alan Wright Band

Thursday September 28, 2006

The Wright Kind of Blues

Jesse Muñoz
Signal Staff Writer

With a love for the blues and a passion for entertaining people, Alan Wright, leader of the Alan Wright Blues Band, has been doing just that
since learning to play a guitar at age 9.
Even after more than 30 years of performing in venues across the country,
the now 45-year-old Canyon Country resident continues to create original music, play live shows and organize local jam sessions - all for pure love of the blues.
Growing up in Decatur, Ill. - just a few hours from Chicago - a
blues-based musical influence could almost be expected; however, Wright gives more credit to his parents' already defined music tastes.
"A lot of it was my dad's records," Wright said. "He had a lot of great old stuff."
It was not long after being exposed to those early influences, which included Muddy Waters, B.B. King and Eric Clapton among others, that Wright began yearning for a guitar of his own.
"I took a few lessons," Wright said about his early days on the guitar.
"But it kind of came to the point of, I'm just going to go home and figure this out on my own, 'cause I don't want to play 'Mary had a little lamb.'"
After teaching himself the guitar at 13 Wright started playing at festivals and local night clubs, sometimes rehearsing at his parents' house three or four nights a week.
When it came time to leave Decatur, Wright found himself in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where he continued to play live shows and formed several bands, before eventually meeting the band's current keyboard player, Jay Spell.
The two quickly combined their talents and have been collaborating ever since.
"He's the best keyboard player I've ever heard," said Wright about Spell,
who has played with Jimmy Buffet and Tower of Power. "He's just a phenomenal player."
The two then decided to take the band to California, moving to Santa Clarita in 2001 to "chase a record deal."
"This is where the industry is, so we came out to be in the middle of it," Wright said.
Although the band still hasn't officially been signed, they have released a record.
The independently released Alan Wright Blues Band album, "Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog," debuted in 2003, and features 11 tracks of original songs.
In addition to the album, the band continues to play a wide variety of local shows in and around the valley, with their main venue being Primo’s Pizza in Saugus, of which Wright is a part owner.
During performances Wright plays guitar, harmonica and sings vocals, with Spell on the keyboard, Jeff Ackerman on the saxophone and Michael Moxley on bass guitar. The band plays a collection of original material, classic blues hits and "anything that is soulful."
"The kind of music I like is music that comes from the heart, not from the brain," Wright said. "It's a mix of blues, rock and soul music. What we do is not cry-in-your-beer blues."
At Primo Pizza venue, the band plays on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, with plans to eventually add some Saturday shows.
Wednesday nights feature an open blues jam session, where area musicians
come to play and are organized into small groups before playing a three-song set. On Thursdays, the Alan Wright Blues Band is the featured performance, playing a set that usually runs from 8 p.m. to midnight. On Fridays the band again performs after Karaoke night ends at 10 p.m.
For more information on the Alan Wright Blues Band please visit
www.alanwrightband.com.

Copyright The Signal - Signal News paper (Santa Clarita, CA)