Chely Wright Takes Country Music on the Road to The Dinah: Interview

Since her momentous coming out last May country music chanteuse Chely Wright has been on a whirlwind tour, promoting her landmark autobiography Like Me while sharing her heartrending story, advocating for LGBT visibility and rights, and of course, singing her heart out in various venues around the country.

Now, less than a year later, Wright, with her latest release Lifted Off the Ground in her proverbial back pocket, is slated to play for a ready-made audience of adoring fans at the worldís largest lesbian party, the often Bacchanalian, Club Skirts The Dinah in the desert oasis of Palm Springs Calif. this April.

The Kansas City, Mo. born 39-year-old singer songwriter with the strong Christian background first garnered boot-stomping raves with her 1994 debut album Woman in the Moon, helping Wright nab the Academy of Country Musicís title of Top New Female Vocalist in 1995. Among her hit singles are a pair of tunes with terrific country titles, "Shut Up and Drive," off of her 1997 release Let me In, and the title track from her Single White Female album two years later, which landed her at #1 on the charts.

But as she was enjoying chart-topping success, Wright continually struggled with the dichotomy of being a country hit-maker and a closeted lesbian, leading to what can be described from passages in her autobiography as dark and harrowing times, especially for a woman who emanates so much light and life.

In the years leading up to her official coming out Wright continued to churn out songs, but the lyrics began to take on a raw and personal tone that she says she would not have been able to explain away without coming out as gay. Fiercely honest and forthright, Wright says she decided she had to tell her story, prompting her to sit down and write Like Me, a moving and often witty chronicle of her journey to come out as a lesbian amid a country music and Christian backdrop.

Wright recently chatted with SheWired about her life and career since coming out, her advocacy and charity work with the LGBT community, the special place in heart for her friend in the music business Mary Chapin Carpenter and how she plans to give the ladies at The Dinah just what they want! 

Thanks so much for speaking with us! I don’t know if you were aware, but you got 3^rd place for Gay Woman of the Year on our site.

Oh! I made a list!

You did! You made our list for sure.

Great! I like being on a list! Thank you.

You’re welcome! Now, you have had a couple big announcements this year -- one being that you came out and the other being that you are playing The Dinah.

[Laughs] That is the second biggest announcement of the year.

(Laughs) On some level it is... Have you ever been?

No! In hiding I would never have done something so reckless as to show up to, by-and-large, a lesbian event. I never would have done that.

Not even incognito?

No, I wouldn’t have done it. In fact, I didn’t even know about it. But right when I came out every lesbian on the planet said “you have to do The Dinah!” So, I was like “ok,” and then I quickly came to understand what The Dinah is.

Did you know that there is a name for people like you who have never been?

Um, no. What is it?

You’re officially a Dinah Virgin.

I’m a Dinah Virgin, so I am about to be a Dinah Ho.

Exactly! So how did it come to pass that you would play The Dinah?

My managers emailed me and said, “Hey, do you want to do The Dinah?” I wrote back “Yesss.” So they started hammering out some details and that’s all I needed to know, that they invited me and I said yes! I was excited to know that they wanted the full band, because that’s the most fun – to get to go and bring the whole band.

Absolutely. Well, they usually have really great venues as well.

Oh good!

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