Jamie E. Wright
Jamie Wright was born and raised in the little town of Seneca, S.C., to James and Kathy Wright.
Jamie began showing interest in music at the young age of five. She began singing at Bible Way Baptist church where she learned the traditional style of gospel music. Jamie always stood out because of her strong vocal ability and her “no fear” attitude on stage. There was not a time on stage that Jamie did not captivate her audience and any time she could entertain people, she took full advantage of it.
Jamie attended a private school during her elementary years and during her time at that school, music became secondary - but not for long. It was not until she was 13 and transferred to public school that her interest in music was piqued.
In 1993 Jamie began 8th grade and introduced herself to a music teacher by the name of Ms. Micheala Cobb. She explained her love for music and asked to be placed in the choir. To Jamie’s surprise Ms. Cobb immediately enrolled her into the school’s choir. On the first day of class, Jamie was asked to sing in front of her peers and at that moment there was no question that Jamie had a special, natural and untrained gift - but it needed to be honed. Ms. Cobb, seeing the determination and desire in Jamie, insisted that she study voice more intensely. Ms. Cobb subsequently began working with Jamie on her vocal skills and preparing her for upcoming spring auditions for the honor’s chorale.
Jamie discovered that she was very behind in music theory and ear training. Although Jamie was consistent in her training, she soon realized she had severe intonation problems which caused the matching of pitch to be an uphill battle. Discouragement set in because Jamie was not selected for the chorale; however, she succeeded in making the women’s choir. While disappointed with that minor setback, she viewed it as a challenge and worked even harder to ensure that she was a part of the honor’s chorale the following year. During the next year, Jamie continued to focus on ear training and theory. In 1995 she saw her dream come to fruition when she was selected for the soprano section of the honor’s chorale! From that point on, Jamie never looked back. She realized that in order to take her singing to the next level she would have to delve even further into vocal training.
She began working part time to pay for her lessons. Even with all her hard work, it would not be until she was a junior in high school that she received her first award - she placed 2nd in her division at Nationals. This ended up being the confidence booster that Jamie needed and she then applied to the N.C. School of the Performing Arts. She was accepted for the fall classes of 1997. While attending the School of Performing Arts, Jamie acquired a taste for a variety of music genres, including musical theater and opera.
In 1999 she took a leap of faith and headed to New York City. There she was given the opportunity to work with the opera company, Opera Ebony, under the direction of Wayne Sanders, which she enjoyed until fall of 2001. Jamie was the “baby” of Opera Ebony, but worked hard because felt she had to in order to advance in the company.
While studying with Wayne, Jamie really began to experience her true abilities and pushed herself to broaden her range. Wayne was a great inspiration to Jamie and really provided great support and changed her mind set as a singer. After leaving New York Jamie decided it was time to reevaluate her career ambitions.
She became more interested in varying styles of music, inclusive of funk, soul, Neo-soul and R&B. The transition from classical to becoming an original artist was quite a feat for Jamie. She had to develop an ability to sing in a recording studio and create a style as a writer. She soon realized there was so much more to singing than she truly knew. Having such a trained and developed voice caused a bump in the road for defining her own signature style.
Jamie spent countless hours trying to understand how and what she could do to intertwine her classical style with something fresh and new. Jamie listened to her heart and sought out to find her musical soul mate. Although she had been deceived in the business as an artist, she soon learned to see the truth. At that point in Jamie’s career, she was very fortunate to encounter people who shared the same passion for music as she did and truly desired to see her prosper. This was a new starting point for Jamie, on both a personal and a business level and one that long awaited her.
With a fresh attitude and style, Jamie began a renewed journey. She has released a self-entitled demo and is currently working toward completion of her first album and on a solo project. Jamie has continued to advance in recent years and is performing at local venues as the Jamie Wright Band.