From Beauty Queen to Soulful Songstress: The Cyrena Wages Story

In this episode of the Curious Goldfish podcast, host Jason English chats with Memphis singer-songwriter Cyrena Wages before her tour kickoff at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta.

Wages shares her journey from participating in beauty pageants to embarking on a solo music career, highlighting her deep connection to Memphis, Tennessee, and her struggle to navigate the stereotypes imposed on female artists.

The conversation covers the inspiration behind her upcoming album, 'The Vanity Project,' set for release in May 2024, and explores the themes of authenticity, curiosity, and the balance between light and darkness in her life and music. Wages' passion for her hometown's culture and her desire to break free from restrictive labels shine through, alongside a discussion about the mystical influence of rivers on her music and the importance of curiosity in life and art. The episode concludes with a performance of Wages' singles 'Carried Away' and 'Robin Hood' from the Eddie's Attic show, inviting listeners to delve into her soulful sound and the personal stories that fuel her craft.

00:00 Introduction and Childhood Memories

01:12 Welcome to Curious Goldfish

01:44 Introducing Cyrena Wages

02:22 Cyrena's Love for Memphis

03:40 The Start of the Tour

04:02 Cyrena's Solo Career Journey

05:26 Cyrena's Connection to Memphis

09:21 The Vanity Project

19:01 Cyrena's Family Background

23:33 The Freedom of Curiosity

39:31 Closing Remarks

You know I remember I was in the third grade and we had to pick a book

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To write a book report on, and I wrote

mine on Al Green's autobiography,

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which I don't think was even an

option, but that's what I did.

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I'm going to butcher what the book

is really about, but I'm just having

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this third grade memory after you

asked that question of like sort of

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interpreting from what I was reading,

the polarization of his light and his

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dark, you know, his spiritual sacred

part that wanted so, so deeply to like.

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to like, cling to the, the Lord or the

idea, his idea of the Lord, you know,

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his idea of spirituality and the other

part of him that was just like a sort of

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like, you know, unhinged like soul rocker,

I feel like a pretty wholesome girl.

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And I also have like this.

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Uncontrollable edge at times, and

it's been this funny thing to like,

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find acceptance in that in my life

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Jason English (Host): Welcome to

Curious Goldfish, a podcast community

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where music and curiosity come together

through interesting conversations

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with the music makers of our world.

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I'm your host, Jason English.

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You can find Curious Goldfish and all the

major podcast and social media platforms.

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And of course, we have all of our

content on our website, CuriousGoldfish.

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com.

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From Beauty Queen to Dancing Queen

would be an accurate headline for

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Cyrena Wages if someone were to

write a story about the young singer

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songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee.

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But just as headlines are tools to

get someone's attention A headline

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like that doesn't tell the entire

story when it comes to Cyrena, who is

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launching her solo career this spring

with a tour in the southeast ahead of

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her album debut, The Vanity Project.

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Yes, her beauty is striking, and

yes, I'm sure she likes to dance, but

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there's much more to Cyrena than her

pageant days, and there's much more to

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her music than her ability to shake a

leg like she does on the music video

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of her first single carried away.

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First, she's all about Memphis.

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She might one day be a better ambassador

for Memphis than Mark Cohn or Sam

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Phillips of Legendary Sun Records.

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She's also all about making a statement

about her hometown, her singing voice,

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her voice as a songwriter, and the

impact she hopes to have on the music

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industry for the next several decades.

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We talk a lot about all that in

our conversation that we had in

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the back room at Eddie's Attic in

Atlanta, literally moments before

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she was about to kick off the tour.

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You can see the passion and

hunger in her eyes, and she wants

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to prove a lot of people wrong.

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It's just as palpable as the love and

respect she has for the home of the blues

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and the birthplace for rock and roll.

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And she can freaking sing.

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Just fire up the song River Bends

on your favorite streaming service.

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And if you aren't struck by her

soulful, sultry voice in the first

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few lines, you might not have a pulse.

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She has a couple of singles out now at

the time of this episode being published.

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And I'm so excited because we have

recordings of both Carried Away and

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Robin Hood from the Eddie's Attic Show

following our conversation with Cyrena.

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Her album will be out in May, 2024.

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Please find her on Instagram

and follow her on Spotify.

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Cyrena Wages, from beauty

queen to dancing queen.

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Let's dive in.

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Cyrena.

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So nice to meet

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Cyrena Wages: So nice to meet you.

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Jason English (Host): Welcome to Atlanta.

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Thank you.

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I love it here.

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I can't believe we're literally minutes

away from your opening night on the tour.

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Right.

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I mean, how, how exciting is this?

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So exciting, and I haven't slowed down,

um, enough to process it until right now.

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So, here we go.

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What emptions do you have, how long

have you been preparing for this?

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Cyrena Wages: Well, I've just been trying

to put out a record and to really do

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the solo project that I've always wanted

to do for, you know, my entire life.

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So, this year is a big year for me.

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Um, it's really kind of

the launch of my career.

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In my mind, the soft launch, the

grassroots launch, the very, you

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know, independent style launch.

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But, it's been a big couple

months, um, and this, this tour

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kind of brings it all to fruition.

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So, yeah, super stoked.

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Jason English (Host): Yeah it's

a big moment, I'm excited to see

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you, and you're with Lily Winwood,

how long have you known her?.

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Cyrena Wages: We've been

friends for many years.

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I don't know, 10 years probably.

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Um, we got really close in Nashville.

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We both lived there for a time

and played festivals together and

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have, you know, played many gigs

together and written songs together.

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And she's just, she's like a sister.

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So yeah, we're gonna have a good time.

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Jason English (Host): So tried to do

a little research , not much on you

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Good (laughter)te songs Yeah there's

not a lot but I've got a couple of

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things to work off actually, a

couple of hours you posted something

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that I want to ask you about there's.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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Uh, so it was an Instagram posts,

it was a picture of you, you know,

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after you arrived here and you're

like, uh, on the road to share the

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damn gospel about Memphis, Tennessee.

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Hallelujah.

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Amen.

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All right.

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So what's the, what's

the gospel about Memphis?

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Cyrena Wages: I mean, I just, you know,

I'm a born and raised Memphis girl.

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I grew up in the country just north of

like downtown Memphis and um, I lived in

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Nashville for so long and I love Nashville

and I work there every single week.

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I drive in for rights and

sessions and it's such an easy.

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commute to go over there and to get

to kind of be immersed in like such

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a competitive and amazing industry.

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I'm grateful for Nashville, but when I

returned back home to Memphis, I finally

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started feeling like myself again.

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And it's what gave me the fuel to

do what I'm doing now to make this

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record honestly and to put it out

into the world in an honest way.

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And um, there's an organization in Memphis

called Music Export Memphis and their

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primary focus is to export ourcity's.most

natural resource, which we would, you

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know, say is our arts and our artists.

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And so they've helped

fund me on this tour.

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So I, uh, yeah, I was just

shouting them out a little.

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Thank you to Elizabeth and Morgan

and the whole crew and all the

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donors in Memphis who help Memphians

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Spread some good publicity

to the rest of the country.

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You know, Memphis gets,

gets a lot of bad press

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Jason English (Host):

Do you think it does?

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Cyrena Wages: And it's a, it's the

greatest city in the world in my mind.

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to get to share, uh, what artists in

Memphis are doing with other parts of

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the country is really, really cool.

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Jason English (Host): On your

website you talk about Memphis is

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part of the tapestry of your soul I

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Cyrena Wages: It is.

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Yeah, it really is.

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There's just something different.

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There's just something different.

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I don't even know how to properly

articulate it, but growing up, you know,

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in Millington near Shelby forest, which

is like right on Mississippi river.

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And growing up like in my dad's

Cadillac, his old Cadillac, he'd

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drive me around and play Al Green

songs and staple singer songs.

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And then he'd play me the country artist

who had made records in Memphis and

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kind of hearing this mix of country

and soul and taking whatever little

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bits I could get from all of these.

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It's, you know, these medicinal artists

that I was fed as a child and kind of

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just like subconsciously cultivating

that into what my sound is now.

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Um, it's affected me musically, but also

there's just, the people are different.

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It's a slower pace and it's raw and

it's gritty and it's imperfect and

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it's got an underdog mentality that

I really resonate with and it's just,

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there's just something special about it.

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And I don't work for the city.

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This is just how I I

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Jason English (Host): Love it.

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All right.

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Um, well, so the Delta so I

actually live near the Chattahoochee

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Okay.

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and there is, there is something

mystical about a river, Like the energy.

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And, uh, you know, if you've seen

that, I don't know if you've seen

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that documentary on a muscle Shoals,

Alabama, where they talk about the

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mud and then the sounds different, you

know, like, do you, do you believe,

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do you believe in stuff like that?

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think there's just

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something in the water, you know.

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Cyrena Wages: People always say,

what genre of music are you?

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And with this new record, I've

stopped responding to that

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question because it's so limiting.

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So I say I make music for

the river fairies because the

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mysticism is so real to me.

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And since I was a little girl and

to now, you know, I was recently

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shooting my album cover and my dear

friend, Matthew Burda and took me

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across the Mississippi river to.

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Shoot it on the banks and he's, you

know, just a, a river guide and a

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brilliant minds and a spiritual soul.

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And he was just, we were just

resonating together over like how

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much mystery and inspiration and

energy there is in that body of water.

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And, um, yeah, I totally could get woo woo

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How old were you when you sort

of realized it was different?

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I was a little girl.

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My dad would tell me

stories, you know, we would

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to

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Drive through Shelby Forest and go

out to like the what we had as like

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a little beach You know if the water

was low enough, there's a little beach

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out there and he would talk about the

river fairies And you know the swamp

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people and all these like beautiful

folk, you folktales and whatnot So

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I I still find it to be true and

helpful still inspires me, you know,

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Jason English (Host): So your

album is coming out in May?

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May 24th.

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It's called The Vanity Project Yes.

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The cover is really interesting, so

I'm going to try and peace a couple of

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things together, tell me if I'm off So

it was that photo shoot on the river.

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Yeah that was the one

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That was the one you're talking about.

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Okay.

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And, uh, so the, your outfit is

interesting because it's, it's, uh, and

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I think your website alludes to this

too, but, um, a reference back, a hearken

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back, if you will, your pageant days

with the, uh, the sash with the name

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of the album, which is vanity project.

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So what's going on in that image?

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Cyrena Wages: So I was raised

in Tennessee beauty pageants and

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by no means did I have one of those

toddlers and tiaras type families.

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My parents didn't like, you know, it

wasn't, it wasn't that at all, but it was,

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it was that I wanted to sing

since I was a little girl.

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And that was kind of an opportunity

to find a stage to sing on.

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Cause you know, in the

South, that's sort of.

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If a girl wants to perform, they're

like, well, put her in, you know, pounds

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of makeup at age four and stick her on

the stage and give her a microphone.

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And so I kind of fell

into that a little bit.

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And then as I got into high school, it

got pushed on me a little bit harder, but

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yeah, I, I, I did some, uh, some beauty

pageants, which I always joke that I'll.

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die in therapy over.

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Um, It is the opposite

of my true personality.

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I, uh, I don't, I don't, um,

I don't wish that upon anyone.

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But I, Vanity Project was sort of,

not just about the pageants, but sort

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of just a through line to the whole

experience that I felt like I had

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and so many women and people have.

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Growing up in the South, especially

in the Bible Belt, um, it was sort of

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just more a metaphor to the idea of a

woman's role and how limiting, uh, the

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narrative around that has been for this

part of the country and, and many others.

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Um, and so, yeah, I just

wanted to get a little.

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middle finger back at that, but also,

I don't know, pay homage to it in

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this very characterized artful way.

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And as far as the title itself, there was,

um, I was getting ready to make the record

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and I hadn't yet written a song called

Vanity Project, but I'd written a batch

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of songs, three or four, and I got pitched

to a couple of music business people.

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And one said, well, she's

just a vanity project, right?

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And I was so unsurprised to hear

that because I've heard it so

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many times, but that was also

before he'd listened to the songs.

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Um, but But I was so grateful that he said

that because instantly, you know, like

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I'm, I've always been a bit of a rebel.

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So if you kind of make me angry,

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Jason English (Host):

where does that come from?

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Do you think that a comment like

that is that insecurity on him?

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Is that just It's just,

it's just, it's just how we

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Cyrena Wages: I don't know

and he's probably a perfectly

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fine and talented guy.

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And so no disrespect to that guy

because he's heard me interview

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about him a hundred times and

there's many of him, right?

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But it was just, it's just, it's

just how we limit others before we.

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Jason English (Host): give them a shot, do

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Cyrena Wages: Do a little bit more of

a, of a deep dive, you know, and so I

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don't know, I think if you show up, if

you show up as a woman, not ready to

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present yourself in a striking way, then

you're not worthy of being an artist.

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And then if you show up, you know, with

heels and eyelashes on and then you get

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dismissed as not being the smart one

or the artistic one or the, you know,

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intellectual type, which is not true.

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So, um,

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Jason English (Host): what's an outcome

that you're looking for out of this tour?

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And then the rest of the year, like, if

you were to look back a year from now,

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what will make it a great year for you?

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Cyrena Wages: for the tour, first I'll

say I've been so busy, you know, I'm

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kind of my own record label right now,

and I, um, didn't go the traditional

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path of pitching to a bunch of

labels before releasing this record.

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I worked with This New Century, um,

as a consulting agency, and we decided

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to, with our limited funds, create

our own little label 360 rollout plan

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and sort of try to delegate all the

things that a label would Delegate to

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independent hires and create our own

whole little Release strategy here.

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So we've worked really, really hard.

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And in order to fund that I've

worked multiple day jobs, you know,

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like so many artists do, right.

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Um, but I've been picking up

extra of the side hustles in

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order to fund the main hustle.

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And so it's been really hectic and

busy on the administrative side.

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And I'm really looking forward to on

tour, being able to play guitar and

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write new songs and refill the well.

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Um, and then just for this year,

it's just, it's year one for me.

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It's like.

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I always quote, my dad used to drop

me off at school and say, kick the

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door down and tell him Dewey sent ya.

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Which is a sign off from an old Memphis

radio DJ and it, and it just meant like

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meant like I've going boldly and loudly

and give them hell, you know, and

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so I've never been able to do that.

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I've never had the agency or the

confidence or the material to do that

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and I have all of those things now and

it's my year to start to just to my

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baby level start and just hopefully

grow and move the needle, you know.

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Or are you kind of watching numbers like

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Old.

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Jason English (Host): someone in

your age group, do you obsess or

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do you worry about watching numbers

like instagram followers, streams?

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You know, do you get caught up in that?

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Or is it, is it, you're like,

listen, I can't control it.

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I'm just going to go do what I want to do.

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Cyrena Wages: Yes and no, right?

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Like I'd be such a liar if I pretended to

be one of those people who's like I don't

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care, I just wanna make my art and um,

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ways

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I guess I wish I was that pure, right?

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Um, and in some ways I am so pure in

the way that I'm pursuing all this.

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But I also wanna turn what's not currently

You know a career into a real career,

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you know I want access to a lot of

people and I want to be able to share my

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story with more ears new ears And so of

course I want the annoying word that the

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industry uses metrics I want metrics to

start to favor me because that means the

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opportunity to Speak to more people and to

be able to keep doing this, you know, so

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Jason English (Host): um,

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Cyrena Wages: Yeah, I want it to

grow That's, that's, that's what

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I think we all want to happen if

we're being honest with ourselves.

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But at the same time, like, I've learned

the hard way after my Nashville years.

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I can't, I can't lead with desperation.

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I can't just do this one thing because

it'll get me in the door, quote unquote.

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Because I've gone down that path and

I've signed the really bad deals.

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And I've gotten in the

horrible production situations.

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And I've lost a decade to the machine

and the system because I didn't I

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didn't have the wisdom and I'm older

now and I've learned and I'm happy

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to do it a bit differently this time.

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Jason English (Host): So you

mentioned this is your first solo

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album and tour as a solo artist

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You did some work with your

brother, right, the Lost Wages?

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Cyrena Wages: Yeah, yes.

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Uh huh.

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Jason English (Host): So,

yeah, tell, tell us about that.

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And uh, is that, was that part

of the Nashville time or was that

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even, did that proceed in Nashville?

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Cyrena Wages: Yeah.

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So my brother lives in LA.

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He's 10 years older than me.

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He lived in LA.

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I was living in Nashville and

I was dating a wonderful guy at

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the time who's one of the most.

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talented musicians I've

ever met in my life.

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And my brother came into

town for a beauty pageant.

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I forgot.

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Oh my God.

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Jason English (Host): It all comes back

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Cyrena Wages: Tennessee.

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Good almighty.

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I can't escape

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Jason English (Host): Oh my gosh.

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Cyrena Wages: Um, anyways,

I lost, thank God.

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And I lost.

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And then we all sat in the hotel

room and like drank Miller High Lifes

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all night, you know, and they were

like, we got to get you out of this.

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Like this isn't you.

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And I'm like, you're right.

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And I think the next week we

were all back in Nashville and.

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Um, Houston, my brother was

still, you know, visiting from L.

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A.

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And I was there with Gabe,

my ex, and we all sat down in

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Gabe's apartment and wrote.

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Like a record in a week and recorded

it and played a show and got a

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management deal on accident Didn't

even have a band name kind of thing.

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So it started like that and then that

morphed into just my brother and I as

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that relationship ended sadly and Yeah,

those were crazy interesting times.

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We got put into the system

and spit out of the system.

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And we didn't have the financial backing.

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We thought we had, we thought we just had

to do whatever, you know, the, the suits

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told us to do in order to get our chance.

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We just wanted a chance, you know, and

we learned the hard way that they'll

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strip all the art right away from you and

you'll just become another like mannequin

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Jason English (Host): number.

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Cyrena Wages: wearing

a cowboy hat, you know.

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So that happened.

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Jason English (Host): Yeah.

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Sometimes I, so I'm in the corporate

world sometimes to, uh, to sort

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of win in the corporate world, you

have to be anti corporate, you know,

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Cyrena Wages: Yeah, let me

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Jason English (Host): sort of have to,

you have to like disrupt, you know,

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you have to disrupt like a sales cycle.

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So if, you know, I'm in, I'm in sales,

so I sell big it projects and corporate

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world wants you to follow a very specific

process to sort of position your services.

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Right.

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Okay.

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Sometimes you have to do it, but when I

look back on my career, the times when

352

we actually went outside the process

and came in from the left side or the

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right side and disrupted it and kind

of did it our way, people pay attention

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like, Oh yeah, you guys are different.

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We want to work with you kind of thing.

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So it's,

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Cyrena Wages: And you have to have,

I think, wisdom and experience

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gives you that agency, right?

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Is that how you felt, or did you

have that right out the gate?

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Confidence, yeah.

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Jason English (Host): And sometimes

you, you kind of have to fake it, right?

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Cyrena Wages: Yeah, I love the

way you said that first line.

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Yeah, that's, that's so good and so true

and a hard lesson learned, you know?

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Jason English (Host): Well, yeah,

but here you are at, uh, minutes away

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from Eddie's attic opening, uh, just a

couple more, a couple more questions.

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So you mentioned your brother.

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Do you come from a family

of musicians and music?

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Cyrena Wages: I come from a family

of wildly creative, eccentric,

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just dominant personalities.

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Um, yes, my mom, She has played piano

and been a singer her whole life,

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never professionally and really never

outside of the church for limited years.

372

And, um, she was actually in

a really bad car wreck and it,

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um, damaged her vocal cords.

374

So that's a whole nother part

of the story, but, but, you

375

know, she's just a creative.

376

She's a designer and decorator and just

a, just like a little Hollywood on the

377

back porch in Millington, Tennessee.

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She's such a character.

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And then my father is such an artist.

380

Who never found his art

form, but it's wild.

381

He's I guess his art form.

382

I could say he's a trial attorney and

He's just but he's an old hippie, you

383

know And he's knows more about music than

I could ever know and he's probably in

384

Memphis, Tennessee right now dancing on

the back porch to like Sly and the Family

385

Stone, you know and just writing like

Wonderful poems and he's just brilliant.

386

So, um, and then both of my brothers

are creatives and, uh, my poor

387

parents that, like, surely they

thought one of us would get a real

388

job, you know, but none of us did.

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Jason English (Host): Well, so not, yeah.

390

That's, that's all.

391

Awesome.

392

Um, but you, you have such

an interesting background.

393

Not everybody's gonna take the time.

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Well, hopefully they do.

395

But take the time to read

your website and stuff.

396

But I saw this on

Spotify and your website.

397

I'm gonna read this out for everybody.

398

'cause this, when I read this, I'm

like, well gosh, she's kind of a badass.

399

So it's like, uh, you, you

talking about your family.

400

Uh, the wages were run out of

North Carolina for stealing

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horses and other boorish behavior.

402

We settled in North Mississippi

and evolved into three groups.

403

The preachers, the

drunks, and the outlaws.

404

outlaws.

405

And

406

And then kind of a mid range group.

407

I came from the mid range group.

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What does that mean?

409

Is it a mix of all that?

410

Cyrena Wages: You know I remember I was in

the third grade and we had to pick a book

411

To write a book report on, and I wrote

mine on Al Green's autobiography,

412

which I don't think was even an

option, but that's what I did.

413

And I remember, I'm going to butcher

what the book is really about, but I'm

414

just having this third grade memory after

you asked that question of like sort of

415

interpreting from what I was reading,

the polarization of his light and his

416

dark, you know, his spiritual sacred

part that wanted so, so deeply to like.

417

to like,

418

Cling to the, the Lord or the idea, his

idea of the Lord, you know, his idea of

419

spirituality and the other part of him

that was just like a sort of like, you

420

know, unhinged like soul rocker, you

know, and, and kind of like his life

421

how it's, the pendulum sort of swung

between those two things and still does

422

and, um, I resonated with that light and

dark thing and it feels like, in third

423

grade, yeah, it was a, it was a really

424

really heady time.

425

Absolutely not.

426

Absolutely not.

427

Um,

428

Jason English (Host): think, um, I think

429

Cyrena Wages: yeah, I think, um,

430

Jason English (Host): space

431

Cyrena Wages: yeah, I think there's

something to that, something in

432

that middle ground and that middle

space between the, the wild cards

433

and the, the ones who really

try to cling to the goodness.

434

Like that's, I feel like

a pretty wholesome girl.

435

And I also have like this.

436

Uncontrollable edge at times, and it's

been this funny thing to like, find

437

acceptance in that in my life and um,

438

Jason English (Host): But we are humans,

right, that's part of the human experience

439

Cyrena Wages: in I don't think when

we tell the truth, and when we let

440

ourselves introspect, and we let

ourselves come unglued, sometimes we

441

see all the colors in the 360, right?

442

It's just, we so often suppress

those parts, but for better or

443

for worse, they've come out.

444

Jason English (Host): So ourselves

come curiousity is a big part of this,

445

you know, curiosity is a big part of

what in talking to different musicians

446

to do here.

447

Yes!

448

I think curiosity is underrated in life

449

think you've experienced a lot

in your, in your young life.

450

Uh, you've got your life ahead

of you, your career ahead of you.

451

I have no doubt when you're going to win

the Grammy, you're going to remember this

452

moment at Eddie's attic the start of the

453

Cyrena Wages: You're very

good at this, by the way.

454

Jason English (Host): Oh, well, thank

455

Cyrena Wages: you.

456

Yeah, they're really great.

457

Jason English (Host): my gosh.

458

Well, you just made it.

459

Cyrena Wages: you de you are,

you should definitely keep

460

doing this for a long time.

461

Jason English (Host): Okay.

462

Well, thank you.

463

Um, . Well that's, that's awesome.

464

Uh, so what are you curious about?

465

Cyrena Wages: oh my gosh.

466

I'm so curious about so many things,

but I love the concept of this podcast.

467

I think that word, curious curiosity

is so powerful as a pillar of

468

what this podcast is about.

469

And I think I'm curious about,

this is gonna sound cliche, but.

470

Um, the freedom of curiosity and

how so many people don't embody it.

471

I think, you know, small town religion

can, can do that to you too, right?

472

That, that doubt is where

Satan's coming in, right?

473

And like

474

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

475

It's fear.

476

Yeah, it's fear based.

477

I

478

Cyrena Wages: mentioned as a, as a

heady little girl, when someone tells

479

me, don't doubt that Satan speaking to

you, like I really internalized that.

480

And so I, what I heard there

was don't use your mind.

481

Don't expand.

482

Expansion is dangerous, right?

483

So limit, and play by the rules, and

be in the pageant, and wear the dress,

484

and be skinny enough, and smile, and

hug that stranger, and always be sweet,

485

and good girl this, and good girl that.

486

And

487

and I

488

think that, whether it's like

southern religious culture, or it's

489

just, You know, culture of, of, of

women and other marginalized parties

490

in the, in the country, or whether

it's just part of being human.

491

Like, I don't want to limit it

to some kind of, you know, agenda

492

that I have here because I don't.

493

It's really just that, like, the

freedom to be curious about your own

494

story and how we help other people

feel safe enough to introspect

495

about that.

496

into themselves about that.

497

lot and we

498

I think we button people up a

lot and we tell them to like, die

499

on their white horse, you know.

500

for me.

501

And I fell off the white horse so

long ago that it's been easier for me.

502

You hit a rock bottom and you're

like, well, what's there to lose.

503

Right.

504

But so many people haven't faced that.

505

And I feel like you could live a whole

life unexamined, you know, and, um,

506

I'm really curious about how to write

songs, how to have conversations like

507

this one, how to read books and share.

508

Love and share, listening for others and

ears for others in order to spark a little

509

bit more freedom for people to be curious.

510

So,

511

Jason English (Host): people.

512

That's that's that's really good.

513

Uh, curiosity takes effort.

514

Right.

515

And so I think it's the

easy thing is to be told.

516

What to think, what to believe, how to

act, and then kind of follow that, you

517

know, that's but to your point earlier,

though, about, you know, light in the

518

dark, we all want to be good people.

519

We all want to, I think,

service each other.

520

But we are human.

521

And there's, it's not, you know,

it's not about being like horrible

522

person, but it's like there, there

are temptations, there are things

523

that you want to try and experience.

524

And I think that's just

part of living, you know?

525

Cyrena Wages: Yeah, he got

one of these things, right?

526

Or maybe we have ten, I don't know.

527

Jason English (Host):

Oh, no, yeah, we all, you

528

Cyrena Wages: Maybe we'll come

back next time as that plant

529

on the roof of Eddie's attic.

530

I'm not really sure, but the

one we got right now, yeah,

531

I'm ready to turn over each

532

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

533

Yeah.

534

And I love that how you put that, the

freedom of curiosity, because yeah, in

535

a lot of cultures, especially in the

Bible belt in the South and the Midwest,

536

yeah, there's not that freedom, you

know, there, you know, and, uh, and

537

again, at this stage in my life, one of

the reasons I'm doing this is, uh, did

538

you ever see the movie almost famous?

539

Cyrena Wages: right?

540

Uh, I've always wanted,

when I grew up, I used to

541

Jason English (Host): So I, I was a

journalist for a hot second out of

542

college and it was my favorite job

because I learned so much so fast.

543

Right.

544

Uh, but again, I, I raised a family and

you know, I, uh, I decided to pursue

545

another career in technology, but I

always wanted, when I grew up, I always

546

wanted to be William Miller chasing

the band around with a microphone.

547

And now, you know, I have a full time

job, I have a full time career, but

548

at this stage I'm like, I'm doing

it, you know, and I have that, I

549

feel like I have that freedom now.

550

To be curious because I don't

know how to write songs.

551

I don't know how you

make money in the music

552

Cyrena Wages: Well, I don't either.

553

Jason English (Host): Don't I

didn't know anything about you

554

really until two days ago, right?

555

And here we are.

556

So that's Yeah, I feel that freedom

and I'm really I'm really I'm really

557

sort of inspired by how you put that.

558

Yeah

559

Cyrena Wages: Well, likewise, and

I mean, I think, I love the quote,

560

which I actually think was like a

misinterpretation from an ancient

561

quote, but I've heard and I've sort

of adopted find what you love and

562

let it kill you because you got

to have that Eros in life, right?

563

Like I have Eros tattooed on my arm.

564

Um, after I read this Esther Perel book

about finding your life force and your

565

zest and my gosh, you know, like if you

Play by the rules for forever and, and

566

think that you have to kind of like sign

up for the one thing at, you know, 18,

567

20 and never get to discover other parts

of yourself later in life and do things

568

you've never done and do things that allow

for conversations like this that are,

569

like we said, expansive and interesting

and I don't know, it's really cool.

570

I'm inspired by you,

571

Jason English (Host): Oh, no, thank

572

Cyrena Wages: very rock and roll of you.

573

Jason English (Host): No.

574

Well, thank you.

575

I'm the least rock and roll

person you'll ever meet.

576

Cyrena Wages: This is

pretty rock and roll.

577

Hey, you just, yeah, hit me up and

then I'm like, yeah, let's do it.

578

Like that's pretty rock and roll.

579

And you moved to the South.

580

So you're very smart.

581

Jason English (Host): All right.

582

Well, yeah, it's great.

583

It may not be like Memphis.

584

Apparently I need to go

spend some time in Memphis.

585

Cyrena Wages: city should pay me

for how lovingly I speak about it.

586

Jason English (Host): Well,

your album is out in May.

587

You've got a single out called carried

away with a killer music video.

588

It's out now.

589

Was that all your friends?

590

Cyrena Wages: Those are my friends

591

Jason English (Host): Yeah.

592

It looked like it.

593

Yeah.

594

You guys are having too much fun.

595

All right.

596

So hopefully everybody can check

that out and uh, knock them dead.

597

Wish you the best.

598

Cyrena Wages: appreciate it.

599

Cheers.

600

Nice to meet

601

Jason English (Host): Thank you.

602

Thanks so much for joining us for

another episode of Curious Goldfish.

603

Please follow and subscribe to

the podcast and on social media.

604

Also, tell your music

loving friends about us too.

605

Until next time, stay curious.