Michelle Wright to perform in Yorkton venue

Canadian country music star Michelle Wright will make a stop in Yorkton on her I'm Dreaming of a Wright Christmas 2011 tour on December 12.

"The Christmas tour is an annual thing that I've been doing for eight of the last nine years," says Wright. "We get the kids involved, we decorate the stage like a winter wonderland, and we have a lot of fun."

This year, the tour coincides with the release of Wright's new album on November 22, titled The Wright Songs: An Acoustic Evening With Michelle Wright. Samplings from the album - an acoustic recording of 17 favorite tracks from Wright's 25-year career - will be performed alongside classic Christmas songs at Yorkton's Painted Hand Casino next month.

"The thing that's cool about it is that it's live," says Wright. "Basically it's me, acoustic guitar, piano, fiddles, and a little bit of percussion."

The annual Christmas tour is one of Wright and her band's favorite performance opportunities each year, says the musician.

"We've had so many nights of just complete joy as we're out there doing this Christmas tour. It's a wonderful time for us."

But it's only been in the last decade that Christmas music has been part of Wright's repertoire. She resisted the idea of a Christmas tour until officially adopting Christianity 12 years ago.

"Once that happened for me, I felt authentic and legitimate to go out there and sing, you know, "Joy to the world! the Lord is come," she says. "Until I was really able to find that to be my truth, I was not able to do a Christmas tour."

Wright's career has taken her to packed stadiums and massive amphitheatres, but she has a soft spot for the more intimate settings of small to mid-sized centres like Yorkton.

"Small venues like this where you can look into people's eyes and you can connect and you can see the smiles on their faces are really wonderful."

Tickets for the December 12 show are available through the Painted Hand Casino.