The Young Fables – “Modern Country with Traditional Roots”

The Young Fables, a Nashville based duo, is continuing to get noticed in the ever competitive country music scene! The accomplished pair, Laurel Wright and Wesley Lunsford, have captured the attention of Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, and Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta. They have shared a stage with stars such as Lauren Alaina, Sara Evans, Chris Janson, and Randy Houser. In May 2018, with the guidance of Grammy Award winning producer Mitch Dane, they released their sophomore album titled ‘Old Songs.’ Wright and Lunsford took some time out of their busy schedules to catch up with us, at New England Country Music, about their backgrounds, how they came together, and of course their music.

Laurel Wright and Wesley Lunsford come from quintessential southern roots. Both grew up in the same hometown of Maryville, TN. Music has played a big part throughout their lives. When asked about how important music has been, Wright told us: “I’ve been singing since I was three or four and I picked up a guitar when I was ten years old. I wrote my first song about my great grandfather that passed away. So, for me especially, the writing part of this whole thing is how I get my feelings or emotions out. Without music, I don’t really know what my outlet would be. I’m just grateful to have an outlet.” Although they grew up in the same town, their lives went different directions for a number of years. Wright laughingly explained how the two eventually came back together: “I had another guitar player that just didn’t show up for a rehearsal about two days before a gig and our drummer said: ‘hey I know this guy named Wes!’ And now he’s the only one left in the band!” If it were not for that guitar player going MIA, the two may never have reconnected!

Wright has had her share of musical accomplishments over the years. At the young age of sixteen, she had the opportunity to perform at the prestigious Ryman Auditorium. She said: “It still seems unreal because when I entered the Texaco Country Showdown Competition I didn’t even know that the top five people would be able to sing on the Ryman stage. But then, even if I did know that, I didn’t think that that was going to happen. So right after I won that second to last round, when I found out I was going to be able to sing at the Ryman, I was pretty much in tears the whole time. I’m a crier.” Adding to her achievements, Wright competed on three seasons of American Idol. “Each time I got further and further. The very last time I made top 48. It was just a great experience and it was good exposure for not only me but for The Young Fables.”

The Young Fables is a unique band name that will certainly stick with you! Lunsford explained how the name The Young Fables came to be. “We were sitting with (Patrick) a friend of ours at this bar having lunch and we were talking about band names. It’s horrible if you’re ever trying to come up with a band name. It’s really difficult. We were talking to him about how we write a lot of songs with Laurel’s grandparents. And they’re not musicians or songwriters, but they have lots of great stories so we’ll sit there and write songs with them. So Patrick was thinking about this idea and he said, ‘well really what you’re doing is you’re taking these old stories and you’re giving them new life, making them modern and new. You’re really creating young fables.’ But then I asked the same question, the one that everybody thinks when they hear our name. ‘What are we gonna do when we’re the “middle aged fables” or the “old fables”?’ He said ‘it’s not about you, you’re creating the story and you’ll always be creating new stories.’ So that’s how we came up with it.” The Young Fables’ style of music is described by Lunsford: “We say it two ways. It’s either traditional country with modern leanings or modern country with traditional roots.” When asked where they gather inspiration from when writing songs, Wright said, “from real things.” Me and Wes love to write about things that go on in our lives and our friends lives and I might just be speaking for myself but I really like to write about the things that other people don’t want to write about. Maybe things that make other people uncomfortable but maybe they need to hear about it.”

The duo worked together on their latest album with the accomplished producer, Mitch Dane. Lunsford described the experience by saying, “It was awesome.” “It was the best experience I think we could have hoped for. When we first met with him we just went into his studio to meet and by the time we were leaving the studio we were scheduling recording dates.” Lunsford laughed a little as he said: “Which is terrible if you have no money like we do.” “He (Dane) understood that The Young Fables is me and Laurel and we don’t want to lose that sound. I think that what sets us apart from other duos is that Laurel sings all the leads of all our songs. So, our sound is really her voice and my guitar. And we didn’t want that to be lost by adding a lot of different stuff. He (Dane) really understood that.”

After talking to these two, it’s obvious that they really are as sweet as pie! Speaking of sweetness, Over the Top Donut Shop in Knoxville, TN recently launched The Young Fables Pecan Pie Donut. Wright said: “They wanted to launch a pecan pie donut and we thought that is totally on brand with us. It’s one of those big fancy donuts. I ate the whole thing in probably eighteen seconds. I devoured it. It was so good.” With Laurel giggling in the background, Lunsford said: “I’m a plain donut person. But it’s so incredible I could probably eat two of them.” The next time you’re in Tennessee, stop by and give this donut a try!

The Young Fables have a very busy schedule coming up. Lunsford said: “Hopefully we’ll be travelling to wherever anybody that wants to see us.” We, at NECM, definitely want to see them and are hoping they make a stop in New England sometime soon!

You can stay connected with The Young Fables by visiting their website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages.

Their most recent album, ‘Old Songs’ can be purchased on iTunes.