Vanity Project (Side 2) by Cyrena Wages

This is the second side of Vanity Project but Cyrena Wages is not finished. She has new music coming out this summer and plays live regularly in Tennessee. She remains a Memphis musician to her core. She is an artist and a musician first but a successful businesswoman a close second. Now in her thirties, she speaks to Jamie Rodriguez, a local celebrity, with utmost candour. She knows that to be successful artistically without the cushion of a record company requires money. It’s a business at the end of it all. In case you missed Side 1, you can catch up below.

Vanity Project (Side 1) by Cyrena Wages

Circumstances have thrown me the bone I needed to re-open Vanity Project and turn the knob up to 11. It is more satisfying to do that on a record player, but at least I have a CD player which still has a physical knob on it. Funny, but this player is bright pink. It’s not mine.

Tennessee VibesPaul Dettmann 🎶

Without further ado, here is Side 2!

Elvis Presley

Well, it had to be done. You cannot grow up in Memphis and then not sing about the King on your first record. I have seen others call Cyrena the Queen. It’s kind of fun to do that, it might be just a little premature, but let’s see. I don’t know of another female singer who had the chance to go to Nashville, seized the moment, and then checked out of the machine. She went back home. Home means so many things, but it is a brave thing to leave home and create a new life. What is even more brave than that is to admit you made a bad choice, and to come back home. Even bad choices come with important lessons. Memphis has a thriving music community without the insanity of Nashville, and this song is one reason why Cyrena lives there.

I’m sure this is the track with the GarageBand drum loops. Even Matt Ross-Spang couldn’t improve them! What these guys understand is that over-produced sounds are not musically better than simple ideas. The simple idea in this song is that her new man struts like Elvis. It’s not a song about Elvis. I don’t know if he is afraid of commitment or afraid of Cyrena but either way, he’s not good enough for her.

But he walks into the room like Elvis Presley
And if I’m not Priscilla soon he’s gonna lose me
Pretense, defenses, your exes
And oh my god, he’s terrified