“The Wages’ were run out of North Carolina for stealing horses and other boorish behavior. We settled in North Mississippi and evolved into three groups: the preachers; the drunks and the outlaws; and then kind of a mid-range group. I came from the mid-range group.”

Cyrena Wages fell in love with music on the country backroads between Millington and Shelby Forest, two small towns just north of Memphis. Her debut 2024 album, Vanity Project, is both an exercise in rebellion against years of conditioning, as well as a way of processing her own struggles, healing, and growth. Cyrena tapped producer Matt Ross-Spang (Charley Crockett, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Margo Price) to helm Vanity Project at Southern Grooves Studio in Memphis. “It had been a really long time coming. I was getting ready to make this record,” says Cyrena, “and I heard about a music biz guy saying—before ever hearing my songs—’Yeah, but she’s kind of a vanity project, right?’” Just like that, the album had roots and the title track was born.

The first single off Wages' Sophomore album is slated for releases late Spring 2025.