Orion Free Concert Series: Cyrena Wages

About the Artist:

“The Wages’ were run out of North Carolina for stealing horses and other boorish behavior. We settled in North Mississippi and evolved into three groups: the preachers; the drunks and the outlaws; and then kind of a mid-range group. I came from the mid-range group.”

Cyrena Wages fell in love with music on the country backroads between Millington and Shelby Forest, two small towns just north of Memphis. Her upcoming debut album, Vanity Project, is both an exercise in rebellion against years of conditioning, as well as a way of processing her own struggles, healing, and growth. As much as Memphis shaped her positively, there were aspects of growing up as a woman in the South that didn’t align with who she wanted to become. Cyrena tapped producer Matt Ross-Spang (Charley Crockett, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Margo Price) to helm Vanity Project at Southern Grooves Studio in Memphis.

“It had been a really long time coming. I was getting ready to make this record,” says Cyrena, “and I heard about a music biz guy saying—before ever hearing my song —’Yeah, but she’s kind of a vanity project, right?’”

And just like that, the album had roots and the title track was born. “I just feel ready, when I haven’t felt ready before. Everybody comes to terms with themselves on a different timeline. It took me a second, but now it’s my time.” Find Cyrena’s first two singles from the record on all platforms now.

Vanity Project is slated for release May 24th, 2024.