Like many of us, Sechelt musician, music teacher and producer Steve Wright has for the most part been isolating at home with his family for the past few months. But Wright’s not been idle. He’s been preparing his latest music project, an album of 12 original songs, which he will launch in a live online event on Wednesday, June 10.
“The music ranges from piano ballads to electric ukulele songs, acoustic open-tuned singer-songwriter [tunes], songs about the universe and even a song about laser eye-surgery,” Wright told Coast Reporter.
Wright has for years performed under the name Steve Weave, a practice he said has sometimes caused confusion. He’s decided to put that stage-name to rest, but not before using it one last time – as the title of the new album. “The record is called ‘Steve Weave,’ but it’s by Steve Wright,” he explained with a laugh. The moniker might never fully disappear, however. “My wife calls me Weave,” he noted.
Multi-instrumentalist Wright produced the record at his Soundspace studio, located at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt. He performed all parts on the album, except for one cello track. Included among the tunes is Pontiac, first played publicly at a local gig a few years ago.
“That’s the song a lot of people ask me to play now. When I do it live, that’s the song that people turn their heads and go, ‘What’s that?’ It’s definitely got some energy and catchiness to it that people identify with,” Wright said.
Stranded, a piano-driven ballad with a fine, soulful vocal performance by Wright, is one of the album’s standout tunes. He and his son Nigel, 17, shot a video in early May to accompany the plaintive song using the streets of Sechelt as a filming location, which, thanks to the pandemic, were ghostly quiet at the time.
“It was pretty weird to be downtown with this complete emptiness,” Wright recalled. “I said to my son, this is what huge music-video budgets are for, when you have to pay a lot to close down streets.”
Wright said the album would be available on all digital platforms. The June 10 launch event, during which he’ll play the tunes, perform on some of them live, and debut the Stranded video, will be carried on www.Twitch.tv/steveweave, from 7 to 8 p.m.
“I’ve been working hard on this live stream,” said Wright. “I really want to encourage people to plug in to a decent speaker, not just listen on the phone. I’ve been tweaking my sound to get it as close as possible to a live performance.”
