ᴇʀɪᴄ ᴡʀɪɢʜᴛ

Andddd that’s a wrap on our album recording! Still lots of work ahead of us, but what a dream team we had with @ericwrightsound , Antonio, and @lizknowlesmusic for our last day of recording! Thank you to @wgbh and @crbclassical for this amazing collaboration opportunity. Besides, having @jonbatiste coincidentally in the same room and hearing his interview during our lunch break was just the cherry on top! #albummaking #recordingsession

Who’s that girl?

We are so deeply grateful. Three nominations at this year’s Canadian Folk Music Awards! Being recognized alongside so many extraordinary artists this weekend in Calgary is something we don’t take for granted. To every nominee and every winner this weekend - congratulations from all of us. A huge thank you to Madeleine Roger for everything you brought to Glasswing. Making this record with you was a dream. Thank you Joby Baker for your incredible musical mind and spirit, and to Birthday Cake Records for being a dream label to be a part of. Lastly, thank you to the @canadianfolkmusicawards for building something so meaningful for Canadian music. Also - we ❤️ Calgary. #CFMA2026 #CanadianFolkMusicAwards #Glasswing #TheFretless #MadeleineRoger

New Directions Cello Festival Virtual Session Guest Artist: Eric Wright @ericwrightsound Workshop: Building Grooves from the Ground Up Eric will empower you to express yourself rhythmically by building grooves that incorporate various chordal and chopping combinations at varying levels of complexity. He will walk you through the various techniques that he uses when writing, including a beginning to end walkthrough of his creative process, from the seed of an idea to a finished composition. Read more about Eric and our entire schedule of virtual workshops and presenters at newdirectionscello.org Virtual Session this coming Saturday, January 10, 2026! Sign up through eventbrite! Link in bio

Hey Cellists, The 2026 New Directions Cello Festival Virtual Session is coming up in just a few weeks! Join us Saturday, January 10th on Zoom from wherever you are for a day of workshops, performances, and cello camraderie. This year we’re excited to welcome cellists @naseemalatrash.cellist @shannonleehayden @ericwrightsound and @matildelottimusic - they will spend the day with us sharing their own approaches to songwriting, building grooves, improvising and utilizing effects and processing as well as performing solo sets of original music. Students- we offer a generous discount, please reach out if interested! For more info/to register: LINK IN BIO Hope to see you there!

Our new T-Shirts are available NOW on our website (link in bio). A few years back we got the incredibly talented @robertalandreth to design custom playing cards for the band, with each band member personified in the design of a different suit. We love the designs so much, we decided to get T-shirts made. The hearts represent Ben Plotnick, who is originally from the province of Alberta, Canada. This T-shirt features the violin, along with the provincial flower of Alberta, the Wild Rose, and the provincial bird of Alberta, the Great Horned Owl. The spades represent Karrnnel Sawitsky, who is originally from the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. This T-shirt features the violin, along with the provincial flower of Saskatchewan, the Western Red Lily, and the provincial bird of Saskatchewan, the Sharp Tailed Grouse. The clubs represent Trent Freeman, who is originally from the province of British Columbia, Canada. This T-shirt features the violin, along with the provincial flower of BC, the Pacific Dogwood, and the provincial bird of BC, the Steller’s Jay. The diamonds represent Eric Wright, who is originally from Vermont, USA. This T-shirt features the cello, along with the state flower of Vermont, the Red Clover, and the state bird of Vermont, the Hermit Thrush. Get ‘em while you can!

Vermont raised cellist Eric Wright takes the Chandler Music Hall stage this Tuesday, Oct 28th with Toronto based folk quartet The Fretless. Wright anchors the group with his innovative bowing techniques, chording styles, and percussive "chop". Join us to toast his return with libations from Fable Farm Fermentory. Innovative in their own right, Fable is know for their unique 'living' wines and cider, cultivated over the past decade at their Barnard farm. Eric Wright and Trent Freeman wowed audiences at New World Festival back in August, and their quartet promises a more expansive and textured experience. Tickets at chandler-arts.org

My cat is a banjo player #cat #banjo #practice

“Are we a force of nature? Or just a sore in the mouth? Are we the beautiful future? I can’t figure it out” One of our favourite moments of this arrangement is pulsing along with the bridge, pretending to be back up singers for Dan. Don’t sleep on watching the full video on YouTube! linked in bio Recording: Erik Nielson - Smooth Operator Studios Audio Assistant: Karen Gwillim Cinematographers: Anandi Brownstein & Grant Baldwin Editing: Trent Freeman

Thrilled to share this collaboration of strings and voice with one of our musical and social heroes Dan Mangan. His song Troubled Mind is perpetually relevant. We first adapted this arrangement for strings on our record Open House, and loved the constant propulsion of the driving 8th notes and blistering runs. Then at Hillside Festival in Owen Sound, with an intimate crowd crammed under tent, we performed it together for the first time and couldn’t believe how hard it rocked. When this space in a beautiful old orchestral recording studio in Vancouver was available to work in for a day, we immediately thought of this song, and how cool it would be to have Dan singing right there in the circle with us. Thanks for working on this with us Dan! Full video linked in bio Recording: Erik Nielson - Smooth Operator Studios Audio Assistant: Karen Gwillim Cinematographers: Anandi Brownstein & Grant Baldwin Editing: Trent Freeman

We could not be more excited to be doing a limited run of shows with the incredible @vasenduo this coming October in the US! This will something special! #TheFretless #vasen Tickets now on sale.

We had the absolute pleasure of playing a show with the @kootenaysymphony this past weekend and it was truly magical! Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen❤️ Our utmost gratitude to the conductor Jeff Faragher @kootenaycellist and each and every musician on stage with us who helped bring these arrangements to life for the first time. Thank you! We will have more to share from this show in the coming months! #thefretless #fiddle #stringquartet #thefretlessontour #folkmusic #violin #viola #cello #symphony