Early life Wright was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1970, and was raised in the nearby community of Wellsville, Kansas. Wright was the youngest of three children born to Cheri and Stan Wright. Her parents' marriage was unhappy, partly due to her father's drinking. This caused the family to temporarily separate while Wright was a small child. She lived with her mother and two siblings in Ottawa, Kansas, before her mother and father reunited. Wright had a strained relationship with her mother throughout her life. "I wouldn't say we were friends or buddies, but I liked my Mom," she wrote in her 2010 memoir. Wright became interested in her Christian faith and convinced her mother to become baptized when she was six years old. She also discovered her homosexuality after noticing she had a crush on her third grade teacher. However, church teachings taught her that homosexuality was considered sinful behavior. "I heard the words 'whore,' 'criminial,' 'drunk,' 'homosexual,' 'pervert,' 'liar' and 'non-believer' all strung together so many times that I understood that those were the building blocks of sin and evildoing," she wrote in 2010. Every day as a child she prayed for her homosexual thoughts to be taken away. She attempted to find other examples of people in her hometown who were also homosexual, but had no luck. In her childhood, Wright often blamed negative events on her homosexual thoughts. This included when her brother broke a bone and the death of her cousin, David. "It was God's punishment for my being gay," she recalled. Wright developed a passion for music at a young age. Both her parents enjoyed country music and encouraged her to also appreciate it. Her father played acoustic guitar, while she often sang along. Her mother kept handwritten lyrics to her favorite songs in a binder. The family often entertained guests on Saturday evenings and would throw "pickin' parties." Wright often sang along with guests as they listened and played along to music. At age four, she began taking piano lessons. In her elementary years, she played trumpet in her school band. As a preteen, she started performing in singing groups. Wright also began performing in a local venues during this period, such as VFW halls, picnics, bars and churches. At age 14, she started her own country music band called County Line, which included her father as their bass player. The summer