- Presented by the Kansas Arts Commission, Shelly Wright on the LG Desk concerts.

- And this is one of my favorite songs.

It came out around 2010 on an album called Lifted Off the Ground.

It's called Broken It.

Why can't you Just Believe in Me?

Not everyone is the enemy.

I'm trying hard.

I swear I am.

I'm doing the best I can.

I'm waging war up in my head.

Last time I loved it.

I left me and you are no better off because you got burned too by someone you thought you really knew.

Now you broke.

You hold a little back in case I leave.

That way I can't take all of you and that God and part is part I need.

So I don't feel like I'm, last time that I let somebody, it really hurt me.

But that was there.

So here we are, just you and me.

The sum of all our injuries.

Don't try to push me 'cause I might brave not sure how much of this I can take.

And if you gotta go, that's too guess.

There's not a lot.

You hold a little back in case I leave then way I can't take all of you.

But that and part is a part I need.

So I don't feel like I, yeah, we're, It is so good to be back in my home state of Kansas.

This is Eric, how big.

We have traveled all over the world together and he's joined me enthusiastically to get on a plane and come home to Kansas.

We hiked up to the dome today and our legs are burning.

Let me just say that.

But we're, we're delighted to be here on radio and TV to celebrate and encourage and enlighten and uplift those who are pursuing arts and, and how we can support them as a, as a state.

I still consider myself a Kansan.

So it's good to be home.

It's good to be home doing what I love to do best.

The really great thing about growing up in Kansas is that I said my dream out loud and my town heard me and Eric and I, Eric's heard me tell this story a thousand times because I, I believe it's true and I believe it's an important part of who I am.

I believe Kansas built me because those, you know, thousand people in our hometown, when I declared I'm gonna be a famous country singer, really?

No one, a couple of people, but really 99.9% of the people in my hometown said, yeah, that's cool.

Can I get free tickets to your show when you make it?

And, and I began playing anywhere and everywhere I could in, in Kansas and Kansas City and Missouri.

And, and I had an incredibly supportive hometown.

And were it not the, were that not the case?

Had there been people that said, that's crazy.

That doesn't happen to people from Wellsville, Kansas.

It might have defeated me, but instead it it built me up and they built me up and, and, and that support was there.

I had, I, I got signed to a major label record deal publishing deal and then record deal.

And I had two albums that's six singles that those albums did not go.

Let's see, they didn't go platinum.

They didn't go gold.

Nope.

They went cardboard.

I could not get a commercial hit to save my life.

And I'm really, as I look back, I'm really glad that it took me till my third album and I moved to Universal Records for my third album.

I'm really glad it took me that long to, to have success because by then I knew how much it would mean if I did make it.

And Eric and I have been playing together for 30 years.

We, we, Eric and I knew one another and played together way before I had a hit record.

And by the time we did get a hit, it made it all that, all the much sweeter.

I was, I did a show in New York City years ago, and it happened to be the day of a blizzard.

Crowd came out, they were overserved, let me just leave it this there half the crowd showed up.

It was, you know, small club.

But it was, we were all kind of excited.

There's a buzz in the air when a blizzard hits New York as there is when it hits Kansas.

And so I, I said to the audience at one point, Hey, you know, if you got any questions, you throw 'em at me, let me know.

Someone raised their hand in the back of the club and said, how did you know when you'd made it in country music?

And in my mind, in that moment, I gave an answer, but it was just kind of a, you know, quick 15 second answer.

And I don't really know what the answer was.

But when I headed home that night, I realized, dang it, I wish I'd told that guy this true answer, this real answer.

And the real answer is, how did I know when I'd made it?

We were playing a festival down in Miami for a country radio station called Kiss Country.

And it was one of those big outdoor festivals, you know, lieutenant governor perhaps, kind of like the show that I played when I was there.

They set up a stage in the middle of a cornfield, not corn in Miami, but they set up a stage in their music acts all day long.

And typically not having a hit record, being kind of new, couldn't get anything up the charts I typically went on in the earliest slot like noon, 12 30, 1 o'clock.

It's pretty low pressure when you go on at two o'clock.

Crowd doesn't have a big expectation.

Crowd is smaller.

And, and that's kind of, I was used to being the opening act and I had a hit, I had a song out at the time, we're about to do it for you, but it was very low on the charts.

I think it was number 37 on the charts.

And so when I got up that morning off the bus, the boys and I looked at the, the run of show and we saw our time slot for the day 5:30 PM This was terrifying you guys, because as the day got longer, the bigger artists went on.

I think Tim McGraw was closing the show that night.

The crowds get bigger.

Betty Lee, you know exactly what I'm talking about here.

The crowds get bigger and if you don't, if you don't win the crowd over, you kind of fail in front of a lot of people, a lot of fans, a lot of industry people, other people's bands that are backstage.

So we saw five 30 and it was like, oh my god, no.

Oh my God.

So my drummer Preston, who's played with me for years, he, I every, before every show, he and I would Pinky hook and he would say, we would say, have a good show.

I couldn't find him before that show.

And he, and then I did see him right before the show, and he wouldn't make eye contact with me.

And, and he, he was nervous.

I was nervous.

We all knew we were about to fall flat on our faces.

So the disc jockey gets up there and said, you know, ladies and gentlemen, please make welcome to the stage MCA recording artist Shelly Wright.

We get out there on the stage, I grab the mic and I start the song again.

We're about to do it.

And 2020 5,000 people in the audience rushed the stage.

And the minute I sang the first, they sang every word of that song back to me.

And, and, and to answer the question, how did you know when you'd made it?

That was the moment I knew.

And I didn't know that I'd made it.

But here's what I knew.

We're gonna get to do this job just a little while longer.

I looked back, Preston's play his drums, he's crying.

We're all all up, we're crying and we're so impacted by the power of a hit song.

And what I didn't know is that that radio station in Miami loved that single so much.

They got on on it early, added it to their playlist.

It was a, I think it was the number two song in that market.

And I didn't know it before that show.

And I'm glad I didn't know it 'cause it would've freaked me out.

So this is the song.

Shut Up and Drive.

You don't know what you're talking about.

He's not the one on.

You ought to know that by now you've got one of those hearts that keeps changing your mind.

Your heart has a way of making you stay.

So shut up and dry.

Don't look in the mirror.

He might have that look in his eyes.

The one that's so strong, it strangles you will to survive.

He's mastered the a of looking sin eyes of a way of making you stay.

Don't look in the mirror you never listen to.

And I had to your heart to make you that who you.

And you'll only miss the man that you wanted him to be.

Turn you ready, you on or TV to KTWU Drown out the sound of goodbye.

Blink back the T ears.

Show me you've still got your pride.

Just get yourself lost in a sad country song.

Those guys have a way of making you stay.

Don't look in the the voice.

You never to.

And I had to your heart to make you see that he's the one who will be missing you and you'll only miss the man that you wanted him to be.

Shut up and drive.

Don't look in the mirror.

Turn your ready on.

Get outta here.

Shut up and Thank you.

Thanks so much.

So, so I finally had that hit record, right?

And then things were happening.

Everything was happening.

Like I'd always wanted it to be, you know, had the big number one record that that came out after Shut Up and Drive, the next record came out.

It was a gold record.

Things were happening for me.

And, and one of my favorite songs off of that re record was a hit for me as well.

We'll do a little bit of that.

It's called, it was for years.

I've been trying to get my wife to get up and sing with me on this.

She's a really good singer, a really good piano player.

- Come on, - You want to, this, this is actually okay.

Okay, here we go.

I guess.

We guess I with do like how many times do we really know?

Sure.

I was just hoping for the best.

Then I woke up in those love and what I feel was a, when I feel for you Hin was real, was magic was called savage.

Pin was cool as a breeze was to the judge, was never enough.

Pin was always too much.

He did all the things loved.

And that's who thought that I could laugh so loud, then turn around and Christ so many tears.

I used to have so many doubt.

But one bow, one you made them disappear.

And what I found was unbelievable.

But I believe it's true in was in in as in warm to the touch in never in, always did all the things loved us.

And that's how I, oh, that's how I knew it was.

- It was it.

- Thank you.

Thanks so much.

Thanks so much.

And we're gonna do a song that is, that is a true story.

And it's, it was born out of a trip that the band and I took to the Middle East and a bumper sticker that my brother mailed to me before he was deployed to Iraq.

It's called the bumper of my SUV.

I've got a bright red sticker on the back of my car, says United States Marines.

And yesterday lady and a many event held upper middle finger at me.

Does she think she knows what I stand for or the things that I believe just by looking at a sticker for the, on the bumper of my, see my brother Chris, he's been in for more than 14 years now.

Our dad was in the Navy during the, did his duty and he got out and my grandpa earned his purple heart on the beach of Norm.

And that's why I've got a sticker for the US Marines on the bumper of my SUV because I've been here.

She and I've been to the DMZ.

I've walked on the sand in Bag Dad, still don't have all of the answers I need, but I guess I wanna know where she's been before.

She judges and gestures to me.

'cause she don't like my sticker for the US Marines on the bumper of my SU.

So I hope that lady in her minivan turns on her radio and hears this from me as she picks up her kids from their private school and drives home safely on our city streets or to the building where her church group means.

Yeah, that's why I've got a sticker for the US Marines on the bumper of my SU - Thank - You so much.

When you see something every day, typically you lose an appreciation for it.

But I, that was never me.

I stood out on our front porch almost every night and I've got, I've got shoe boxes full of photos that I took of our sunsets back when it was actual film in the camera.

And you know how you can never capture it on a photo the way it looks in real life.

I'm always chasing, trying to get that, that perfect photo.

And, and when we go home to Kansas, I do the same thing at my family's homes.

I go outside and I just snap pictures because it is an actual painting in real time.

And the boys last night, or two nights ago, you guys saw, two nights ago you saw the sunset and one of you said, that looks like a painting.

And I think I missed the Kansas sunsets.

Most of all, you know, we're in the here.

- Yep.

- You know, keep it right there.

Keep it right there because you're asking for a couple more for radio.

I gotta throw it back to falling in love with country music.

When I was four or five years old, my parents had stacks of vinyl records around and, and we were told we were a country music household.

We also had Elvis records and Beatle records.

So for a long time I thought those were country bands.

But I digress.

One of the artists that I loved more than anyone had who has influenced me more than anyone, was a gal by the name of Loretta Lynn.

I'll give you just a little bit.

You come to tell me something, you say, I ought no, then he don't love me anymore and I'll have to let him go.

You say you are gonna take him.

Oh, but I don't think you can, honey, you ain't a woman enough to take my man.

A women like you there a dime a dozen and you can buy 'em anywhere for you to get to him.

I'd have to move over and I'm going to stand right here.

It'll be over my dead body.

So get out while you can because you ain't a woman enough to take my man.

Big finish here.

Let's see a honey, you ain't a woman enough to take my man.

Ain't nobody better than Loretta.

And so we're, we're gonna close with this song and so we're, we're gonna do one more song here.

And I'm, you know, again, that struggle bus getting to Nashville, learning that I was gonna have to work harder and longer to make it.

Having those records out that didn't make it.

And struggling and getting to the new record label finally having hits and my star was rising.

You know, one of the, one of the, I guess someone said to me early on backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, Connie Smith said to me, be very careful about the songs you record.

Because if you have a hit record with the song you don't like, you're gonna have to sing it for the rest of your life.

And I always thought of that as I recorded my songs and I'm often asked if I ever get tired of singing this song, which was my first huge giant number one record.

They asked, do you ever get tired of singing it?

And I have a one word answer.

Nope.

I know that every morning you go thumb in through the personnel on ads, you grab the latest copy, a cup of coffee and settle in for a good life.

I've been trying to catch your eye, but I'm so shy.

I'm hoping and praying that today's edition is going to catch your attention.

That there's a single white female looking for that special lover.

To put it in a nutshell.

Or one woman man who doesn't want no other, oh, you never can tell.

She just might be your dream come true.

A sing a white female is looking for a man like you.

I will expect audience participation on the next.

Yeah, I'm a little nervous.

I'm not sure if I should have put it in writing.

It might have been a little reckless, a little desperate, but I think I did the right thing.

Couldn't go on living.

Keep it hidden.

So I'm telling you everything.

It's my confession.

I hope you get the message.

If there's a single white looking for that special lover, to put it in a nutshell.

Or one woman man who doesn't want no other, oh, you never can tell.

She just might be on the beam.

Come true.

The single white is looking for a man like you.

Yeah, I'm looking for a girl like you.

Hey.

Yeah.

Looking for a man like Lieutenant Governor David to thank you so much.

Kansas Public Radio.

Thank you so much.

KTWU.

It's been a pleasure to be here with you.

Eric, how big?

- Thank you so much.

I'm Kansas Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce, David Toland.

Across our state and across the world, Kansas artists inspire us and enrich our communities with their talents and creativity.

This program celebrates those Kansas artists, some of whom you may know and others you may not, by bringing you remarkable performances from my office, the Lieutenant Governor's office within the beautiful and historic Kansas State House.