SOUL - FUNK - BOOGIE - MODERN JAZZ
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Wellington-based soul singer-songwriter Romi Wrights, the artist project of Lisa Wright.

Although she grew up on the sensibilities of US RnB and Hip-hop, when the Tokelauan singer-songwriter Romi Wrights shares her voice, it’s hard not to feel transported back to the spirit of the late 1960s soul/funk era by her incandescent melodies and stirring stories of love, loss and the confusion that lies in between. Raised between Porirua and the Hutt Valley, near Wellington, the capital city of Aotearoa (New Zealand), Romi started writing diaristic poetry at age eight before beginning to set her words to music during her teenage years.

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After finishing high school, she moved to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) to study music at the EXCEL School of Performing Arts and pursue her dreams of being a singer. Several years later formed the gospel, funk and soul band The Elected, who spent three years performing at venues like Portland Public House, Kings Arms and Golden Dawn.

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Since 2021, she has been working alongside Mānuka Recordings co-founder Kenny Sterling and a cast of session musicians and backing vocalists, including Julien Dyne, Cory Champion, Olivia Wilding, JY Lee.  In December 2023, Wrights opened for soul legend Lee Fields, at the Hollywood Avondale, performing a set of new & upcoming songs, with an album scheduled for release mid to late 2024. - Martyn Pepperall

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