 Chely Wright was born to sing country music. Her 1994 Polydor debut, Woman In The Moon, was the culmination of a lifetime of preparation, but still only the warm-up to the mature artist who emerges now on Chely's new release, Right In the Middle Of It. Chely was born in rural Kansas and started singing in church and at family gatherings when she was four. By age 11 she was singing in bands and had set her sights on a career in country music. She moved to Nashville straight out of high school and landed a job performing at Opryland for four seasons while she made the rounds on Music Row looking for her shot at the big time. A 10-minute meeting with Polydor's Harold Shedd was the beginning of a relationship that led to Woman In The Moon. Having been raised on country legends like Loretta Lynn, Connie Smith, Buck Owens and Wanda Jackson, Chely's roots in traditional country music run deep. And while her love for country's pioneers is still apparent, Chely assumes her own distinctive, modern sound and look. "Roots never change, and anything I sing is going to be country," says Chely, "because that's who I am. We did some songs that are very traditional, and because I wanted to expand what we started on the first album, we added a couple of revved-up tunes. But a great song is a great song, and that's what we went for more than anything else." One of the high points of Chely's career came when she was named The Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist. On par with winning the AMC award was getting to perform with one of her heroes, Buck Owens. Chely says, "When God puts something in your heart and mind at age four, you know it's not a casual thing. I'm in this for the long run. I'll always sing country music."
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