2024 Summer Singles Press Release

“How Many Miles” official release: July 30, 2023
written by Wendy Colonna in 2021

According to Wendy, the song “How Many Miles” is a gospel-inspired number that chronicles 2020 – an idea that emerged in a songwriting group with the prompt “diaspora.”

With a Pops-Staples tremolo guitar pulse, the slow-burning number has a backbeat that stays the course on a weary, mortal coil shuffle. The doleful back-up singers point the way, taking a cue from that dude on the River Styx.

“We’re all still processing that crazy year. For what the world went through, 2020 might as well have been a mirror of the Book of Exodus,” she says. “I couldn’t shake the images of folks displaced from their homes by fires, hurricanes, climate change, crime, and the isolation of the pandemic. I tried to capture that haunting feeling in a song. Ultimately, the song fights off being a dirge. It’s a hymn that prays for peace, home, and unity.”

“Inspired” official release: August 24, 2023
written by Noëlle Hampton and Wendy Colonna in the spring of 2023

“Noëlle brings her synth-pop magic to this song as both producer and co-writer,” says Wendy.
The two are not just musical collaborators, they are song sisters. And after watching Wendy fall in love, get married, and nurture a blended family, Noëlle suggested they write a fun, cosmic love song about how Wendy and her husband Ryan manage to stoke a deeply inspired romance through life’s challenges. So she sent Wendy a voice memo with the refrain and rhythmic changes, and Wendy went to work on the rest.

At its heart, “Inspired” is a sultry, sophisticated dance song in tune with the modern Disco revival. As modern hitmakers like The Weeknd, Kylie Minogue, Sam Smith, Harry Styles, and even Beyonce have staked their spot on the Nu-Disco dancefloor, Wendy takes her folk, swamp-pop, and singer-songwriter traditions to new pulsating highs.

The song thumps along in the spirit of Salsoul in the hands of Shep Pettibone or Chic or Chaka produced by Giorgio Moroder. Fast-forward to today’s new-traditionalism evoked by modern artists like The Revivalists (“Wish I Knew You”) and Kasey Musgraves (“High Horse”), Wendy Colonna’s “Inspired” fits right in and slaps like a funky feather.

For Wendy, “Inspired” is magical and cosmic, reflecting the siren songs that inspired her move to Central Texas from Louisiana in 2000. The irresistible allure of a music-loving community coupled with the spring-fed, life-giving waters surging from the Texas aquifers drove her to make this home. As beloved as her Lake Charles hometown remains, she’d never before set foot in water so clear and healing as her first time at Austin’s Barton Springs. In fact, she wrote a song about that very feeling. “The Water’s Fine” – about said mystical love affair with the pool – was penned back in 2012.

Currently, Wendy’s team is working on a music video to honor and mirror this passion. The truly “Inspired” video – produced and crafted by her main collaborator, husband Ryan Doty – aims to celebrate the community, water, music, love, and magic of living in Central Texas with plenty of spring-fed imagery, mermaids, golden hour sunsets, and sheer joy.

PRESS & PRAISE FOR WENDY COLONNA

“Ethereal” – NEW YORK TIMES

“Smoky” and “alluring” – THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE

“A gifted singer-songwriter” – WALL STREET JOURNAL

“A force of nature” – AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN

“With smoky vocals that call to mind Norah Jones or Joan Osborne” – HOUSTON CHRONICLE

“The sweet honey of Colonna’s voice fills our cups with the enduring energy of her pure songwriting.” – NO DEPRESSION

“A soulful performer… with the kind of swamp/soul conviction that draws listeners in and keeps them in.” – SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS

“Fans of both Lucinda Williams and Motown soul will find much to like in Colonna; the Louisiana-born troubadour brings a decidedly fresh spin on twangy Americana.” – THE BOOT

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ABOUT WENDY COLONNA

For the better part of her life, Louisiana native Wendy Colonna has been communing with folks through the gift of live music. She was born and raised in Lake Charles, in southwest Louisiana, close to the Texas border. From church choir pews, to front porches and fishing docks, Wendy’s childhood and teen years were spent strumming guitars and belting out songs at gatherings. This momentum continued through college and culminated when her duo opened for Jeff Buckley.

How could she not? She grew up steeped in the swampy, music-rich culture of Cajun Country. Her musical lineage is part memory and part DNA melting pot: Italian, Portuguese & English via Trinidad, French, and Cajun. Her dad’s mother performed vaudevillian follies for troops stationed in the Caribbean in WWII, and she has a few fais-do-do musicians on her mom’s side of the family.

Wendy and environmental activist papa Colonna used to sing and dance for fun. Then in elementary school, she joined the church choir and became hooked. At an early age, she says, she “loved the resonance, harmony, and the magic of feeling what happens when lots of people sing together.”

With a few childhood pals, she started a little trio, singing favorite songs from the 60s and 70s. Wendy started writing songs in high school. The momentum continued through college. Her focus sharpened when the duo she was in at the time was given the chance to open for Jeff Buckley.

Then in 2000, upon first dipping her toes in Barton Springs, Wendy decided to move to Austin, Texas, where she fell in love with the city’s clear lakes, verdant greenbelts, and collaborative music community. Her powerful alto was dubbed, “smokey” and “alluring” by Queen of the Austin Music Scene, rock writer Margaret Moser.

As Wendy carved out her place in Austin, she treated each opportunity as a blessing, forging musical partnerships that continue today. Along the way, she’s racked up accolades – Black Fret, Apple Music, Spotify, Wall Street Journal, New York Times – as well as commercial success, including landing an original song on a Coca-Cola ad. Visit Lake Charles, her hometown’s convention & visitors’ bureau, commissioned Wendy to write and produce a song celebrating the culture, beauty, and cuisine of the region. The result was “My Southwest Louisiana Home,” featuring Joel Savoy on fiddle, among other luminaries.

She’s released eight albums since her move to the Lone Star State, with time well-spent developing close relationships within Austin’s fertile musical community. Currently, she’s working on The Paradigm Project, featuring a variety of pairings of Austin musicians in a tiered release of songs, all reflecting her faith in the power of collaboration.