Dusty Wright (born Mark J. Petracca) is an American musician, producer, and writer, and a former editor-in-chief of the music magazine ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...

''. In August 2005, he co-founded the audio podcasting and video webcasting online pop-culture magazine CultureCatch.com, which features his interview series ''The Dusty Wright Show''. Interviews from the show were among the first video and audio podcasts featured at iTunes with such guests as

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

, Jim Marshall,

Budd Hopkins Elliot Budd Hopkins (June 15, 1931 – August 21, 2011) was an American artist, author, and Ufology, ufologist. He was a prominent figure in Alien abduction, alien abduction phenomena and related unidentified flying object, UFO research. Early l ...

, and CultureCatch.com board advisor

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

Early life

Dusty Wright was born Mark J. Petracca. He grew up in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

.Brady, Lois Smith (May 11, 1997)
"Bobbie Lloyd and Mark Petracca"
''The New York Times''. He attended St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and received his BA from the University of Akron.

Career

Wright is a former editor-in-chief of

and Prince's ''New Power Generation''. The Dusty Wright screenplay ''The Gentleman Bandit'' was screened at the AFM and Malibu Film Festivals in 2000 and Wright served as music consultant for the 2004

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

movie ''

Secret Window ''Secret Window'' is a 2004 American psychological horror thriller film starring Johnny Depp and John Turturro. It was written and directed by David Koepp, based on the novella '' Secret Window, Secret Garden'' by Stephen King, featuring a ...

''. Wright was producer on the 2005 documentary ''Wildwood Days'' and on the 2008 documentary ''Airplay: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio''. Wright was co-head writer on Cee Lo Green's show ''Talking To Strangers'' on Fuse.tv. As a singer/songwriter Wright contributed the song "Speed of Life" for contemporary American artist

Ron English Ron English (born June 6, 1959) is an American contemporary artist who explores brand imagery, street art, and advertising. Career English has produced images on the street, in museums, in movies, books and television. He coined the term POPag ...

on his compilation ''English 101'', and recorded "Ramble On" for the

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

tribute "The Song Retains The Name, Volume 2 (Safehouse Records) as well as a track for "Baseball (America's Game)" on Nolan Ryan: A Musical Tribute. Wright's song "I'm Still In Love (w/You)" is featured in David Koepp’s 2008 film ''

Ghost Town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

'' and the video for "Secret Window" from ''If We Never...'' was awarded "Best Music Video" at the 2011 Los Angeles Film & Script Festival. Wright's song "Swirl" was featured on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

6 Music by music critic Rob Hughes and former member of rock group The Fall, and British DJ

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Tape, and also w ...

. ''If We Never...'' received three stars from Hughes in his ''Americana Roundup'' column in the September 2011 issue of '' Uncut'' magazine. Wright hosts the twice-weekly online radio show ''Dusty Wright's Dusty Roads'' on the website of Transcendental Music, a charity music label founded by filmmaker

. He is a contributor to ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''. As of 2014 Wright was working on a documentary film about Jesse A. Marcel Jr., the son of

Roswell Incident The Roswell Incident started in 1947 with the recovery of debris near Roswell, New Mexico. It later became the basis for conspiracy theories alleging that the United States military recovered a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. The debri ...

witness Jesse A. Marcel, entitled ''Growing Up With Roswell''. The film, which is written by Leonard J. Marcel, the cousin of Marcel Jr., focuses on how the Roswell Incident has affected the entire Marcel family. Filming began in late July/early August 2014, and its locations include

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...

, where Marcel Jr. lived, as well as

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and Roswell. Production is estimated to last 18 months, in the hopes of having the film completed in time for the UFO Festival in Roswell in July 2015.Deedy, Alexander (August 13, 2014)
"Late Helena doctor focus of new UFO documentary"
''

The Montana Standard ''The Montana Standard'' is a daily newspaper in Butte, Montana, owned by Lee Enterprises Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 72 daily newspapers in 25 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, ...

''.

Personal life

In 1995, friends introduced Wright to culinary businesswoman Bobbie Lloyd, who would later become Chief Baking Officer for

Magnolia Bakery Magnolia Bakery is a chain of bakeries founded in New York City. The first location opened in 1996 at 401 Bleecker Street, on the corner of West 11th Street in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The bakery is known for its desserts, ...

in 2006, and a judge on the

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

reality television series ''The Next Great Baker''.Nededog, Jethro (Aprlil 30, 2014)
"TLC's 'Next Great Baker' Returns for Season 4 in June With a Few Twists"
.

The Wrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...

."Bitch at Us: Bobbie Lloyd of Magnolia Bakery"
. Bitches Who Brunch. July 24, 2014. Wright proposed to her in September 1996. On May 4, 1997 they married in a

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

wedding ceremony at the Kim Foster Gallery in

SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

. They live in New York City, on Manhattan's

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

. They have two children. Wright studies

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

Discography

*''Dusty Wright'' (1997) *''dust!'' (2000) *''GIANTfingers'' (2002) *''Elevened'' (2004) *''Ghost Town EP'' (2008) *''If We Never...'' (2011) *''Caterwauling Towards The Light'' (2017) *''Gliding Towards Oblivion'' (2018) *''Can Anyone Hear Me?'' (2020) *''Lonelyville'' (2022) *''Songs, Vol. 1'' (2023) *''Dusted Off'' (2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Dusty Living people American male musicians Musicians from Akron, Ohio HuffPost writers and columnists American documentary filmmakers 1957 births