Like most of the rest of America I first discovered “The Wright Kids” while enjoying a relaxing evening watching NBC’s America’s Got Talent!  I was blown away at their first performance and could not wait to see the next weeks show just knowing that they would be in the Top Ten! I watched with excitement, as each week they performed doing better than the week before. I became an instant fan. And while they did not win the grand prize, they captured something more important…… The heart’s of Americans everywhere….. Well, that was two years ago and these kids continue to play and sing and impress audiences everywhere they go!
Sage is now 14, Baruch is 11 and Levi is 8 years old. The three have been performing as a trio for almost 4 years. The three took their first shot at being a trio when they entered a youth band competition at the Galax Fiddler’s Convention in 2006. Levi sang lead and Sage and Baruch sang harmony while playing guitar and fiddle. The three performed You Are My Sunshine and took 1st place at the world’s largest and oldest fiddler’s convention.
Later in that same year, Baruch would bring even more attention to his musical endeavors when he won Oscar Mayer’s Sing the Jingle Be a Star National Talent contest and flew to Hollywood to film an Oscar Mayer commercial. The OM website featured Baruch and his role in his young sibling band.
Two years passed while Sage, Baruch and Levi honed their skills at singing harmony. During that time, Sage and Baruch won numerous awards for fiddle, mandolin and guitar playing, in addition to the three taking top honors in singing competitions. The three opened for bluegrass greats such as Rhonda Vincent, James King, The Lewis Family and The Lonesome River Band.
In 2008, Sage, Baruch and Levi auditioned for season 3 of America’s Got Talent. Beginning in Charlottesville, NC, the audition was a huge success. They advanced to auditions in Dallas, TX and won a chance to compete in Las Vegas for a position in the TOP 40. The kids wowed the judges and producer Simon Cowell with their rendition of a bluegrass classic, Blue Moon of Kentucky and advanced to the live rounds in Hollywood! They won national acclaim when they made it to the TOP 10.
America’s Got Talent was a great experience for the kids. They were challenged to perform music in different genres on live television and enjoyed every minute of it! Long days of rehearsing were balanced with fun at Universal City and the I-Fly, beaching at the Santa Monica Pier and shopping on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Perhaps the most fun of all was celebrating Selah’s, the 4 year old sister’s, birthday while in Hollywood. That was a birthday Selah will never forget!
The first thing the kids did when they returned from Hollywood was go hiking! The entire family loves to hike and picnic. There are so many great places to go hiking where they live in Virginia. They always wrap up the picnic and hiking season with a trip to the local pumpkin farm to pick out their favorite pumpkin for carving!
Now, in addition to bluegrass, they perform all kinds of music and 5 year old sister, Selah, sings a song in every show. These days, eclectic and acoustic probably describe their band better than bluegrass. They perform jazz, rock, pop, folk, bluegrass, celtic and even classical music.
Since their America’s Got Talent adventure, they have been performing in major festivals where they entertain crowds with their unique brand of acoustic music. One of their biggest fans may be Jerry Springer. After season 3 ended, Jerry visited the kids and enjoyed one of their performances at the local POP’S Ice Cream and Soda Bar. While in Hollywood, Jerry and the kids had a great time together rehearsing AGT shows. Jerry became “Uncle Jerry†to the kids when on the set.
Recently, they opened for country music legend, Lee Greenwood, and received a standing ovation from thousands of fans in the packed coliseum. The kids said they felt honored to be billed with such a great American Singer and patriot.
While I was hoping to have that video in time for this article it was not yet ready at the time of this publishing. I will be posting a very special interview article that will follow this one next month on The Skykid.com! We have been promised new videos and songs by the kids for that feature article. I will announce that here and on twitter when it has been published on Skykid’s site!  So be sure you are watching for that announcement!
The biggest influence in the kids’ lives is their parents for all of their love and support. The kids keep a busy school schedule and juggle swim team practice with music lessons. They have five different music teachers that cover all of their instruments and voices in addition to music theory and composition. The kids are interested in performing original material and would like to include that in their next project. The kids hope to release a new CD within the next year.
____________________________________________________________________
Here is the audio version of this article that was aired on The Skykid.com Radio program September 5th 2010.
Audio Version of this article with songs from The Wright Kids!
These kids are great I have been following them ever since I seen them on AGT it is a real shame they did not win..
But I love there bluegrass music they harmonize well and great on there instruments..
Great article . Not being to able a lot of the US shows I am thankful that there are other ways for oneself to witness these really talented performances. They started performing really young – judging from the first clip you embedded in the article . Ever since Tommy from Stars2Come introduced me to the bluegrass music my interest towards this genre has been increasing significantly . And wow I admit I could not resist moving to the vibe when I was watching their NBC’s America’s Got Talent performance.