In the 1980s we all got excited when we got to hear bluegrass artists on country radio. Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley had made their way from Ralph Stanley to the Opry, and Jerry Douglas seemed to pop up on every other song that played.
Now all this time later, we see a number of country artists bringing it back the other way and working the bluegrass side of the street. Skaggs is back here, as is Marty Raybon of Shenandoah fame, and now we have another country success story with a new bluegrass song out to radio.
Curtis Wright was a member of Shenandoah, and co-wrote their big hit 1990 number Next To You Next To Me. Known widely as a quality singer and multi-instrumentalist, Wright also toured with Pure Prairie League from 2000-2006 before leaving to join Reba McEntire’s band.
Now he’s released a single to bluegrass radio, Going Through Carolina, a song he wrote with Jerry Salley. It’s one with a country flavor, about a trucker telling of what’s going through his mind as he’s going through Carolina. Curtis started the song during a time when he was helming an 18 wheeler himself.
The single is available for download sale now online, and to radio programmers through Airplay Direct.
Look for a full project from Wright on Voxhall Records in March, produced by Jimmy Metts.