Chuck Wright is perhaps most well known as the long time bass player in heavy metal band Quiet Riot and he performed background vocals on all of and bass on “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)” and “Don’t Wanna Let You Go” on the band’s breakthrough 1983 album Metal Health. Throughout the 80s Wright played in prominent hard rock bands like Giuffria and House of Lords and rejoined Quiet Riot in 1986, playing with the band on and off on studio recordings and in the live band until 2021. During that entire time Wright’s skill as a bass player and producer brought him to a wide variety of musical projects including seven film scores like that for the 1997 action fantasy film Kull the Conqueror. Since 2015 he has headed Ultimate Jam Night at the Whisky a Go Go which has featured up to several dozen professional musicians a week (barring of course pandemic limitations). So decades into his career Wright has finally released his debut solo album Sheltering Sky. For the record Wright has brought to bear his eclectic sensibilities and styles in cinematic fashion for a set of songs that incorporate hard rock, progressive/art rock, jazz fusion and more experimental musical ideas including those for his fascinating cover of Björk’s “Army of Me.” Over 30 guest performers grace the record including members of Tesla, Dream Theater, Great White, Asia, Jefferson Starship, Allen Hinds and Toshi Yanagi but there is a coherence of creative vision that Wright was able to assemble in a way that challenged his multifaceted skills and creativity rather than simply putting out a record that seems to have rested on the laurels of his musical past.
Listen to our interview with Chuck Wright on Bandcamp below. Sheltering Sky came out on Cleopatra Records and for more information on Wright, his releases and his career please visit his website, both linked below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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