EDINBURGH — Singer Tim Wright figures his May 8 concert at Edinburgh’s Pixy Theatre has to be at least slightly celebratory.
While his 69th birthday is the following day, Wright acknowledged that the best icing on the cake would be a solid crowd for his approximate two-hour concert — one of the few live shows he’s been able to do since a few outdoor dates last summer.
That in itself puts him in a good mood.
“I think you can joke around with the audience a little easier (at smaller venues),” Wright said.
Wright comes to the show with no predetermined set list. Whatever the musical muse stirs in him is what he will perform: pop, folk, country, bluegrass, jazz standards…you name it. He’ll even reach back into the 1940s for a tune if he feels the urge.
As a guitarist, banjo player, dobro player and pedal steel guitarist, Wright can play nearly anything.
“And I’ll admit it’s a big leap from John Mayer to Bill Monroe,” he said.
Wright expects to include cover tunes from artists such as Mayer, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, the Eagles, Jimmy Buffet, Michael Buble and some originals during the show that includes an intermission.
When the longtime Carmel singer and his bandmates with the Wright Brothers — literal brother Tom and friend and bass player John McDowell — performed in Columbus a few years ago at the invitation of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, orchestra conductor David Bowden was immediately impressed, remarking about the “substantial personal charisma” of each member of the trio. The Wright Brothers will mark 50 years together next year.
“Audiences simply love listening to them,” Bowden said. “This is true with each of them individually and of the three together.”
Listeners from the 1980s era and beyond, which includes the group’s time as major-label artists with both Warner Brothers and Mercury records, may remember the Wright Brothers from appearances on TV’s “Hee Haw,” “The Today Show,” “Nashville Now,” the Grand Ole Opry or even the 1987 Goldie Hawn-Kurt Russell movie “Overboard,” in which they played onscreen and on the soundtrack.
“I might throw in a couple of older tunes (at the Pixy),” Wright said.
Years ago, the trio also was tapped to tour with Dolly Parton before the star grew ill after an Indianapolis performance, the tour’s opener, and the tour was canceled. A scheduled national tour with Barbara Mandrell was scrapped after the headliner suffered a serious car crash.
But Wright regularly looks forward. For instance, he just put together an 11-member Jimmy Buffet tribute band known as Barometer Soup, scheduled for a June debut.
“It’s a really big show,” he said, adding that “island-y” outfits are still to be decided.
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Who: Singer Tim Wright of the Wright Brothers, performing solo with pop, country and other covers and some original tunes.
When: 7 p.m. May 8.
Where: The Pixy Theatre, 111 S. Walnut St. in Edinburgh.
Admission: $10.
Information: theedinburghpixy.com
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