Cyrena Wages is a force of nature from Memphis, Tennessee, whose music is a potent blend of "spiritual sacredness" and "unhinged soul". After years of navigating the Nashville "machine" and being "spit out" by the industry, Wages returned to her roots to find herself again. Her debut solo album, The Vanity Project, released in May 2024, is a defiant response to being dismissed by industry insiders and a reclamation of her identity after years in the Southern beauty pageant circuit. In this episode, host Jason English catches up with Wages in Nashville to discuss her hard-won confidence and her role as a self-appointed ambassador for the "gritty" and "imperfect" spirit of Memphis.

Wages speaks candidly about evolving from a place of desperation to one of "clear boundaries and agency". She no longer seeks approval from the "suits" who once tried to turn her into a "mannequin wearing a cowboy hat". Instead, she approaches her music and life with a grounded autonomy. "This is what I'm doing. If you like it, great. If you don't, skip," she explains, highlighting a shift toward authentic self-expression over commercial conformity.

The title The Vanity Project is a clever "middle finger" to the limiting narratives forced upon women in the Bible Belt. Wages uses her history as a "Tennessee beauty pageant" girl to explore the "polarization of light and dark" within herself. By pairing pageant imagery with her raw, soulful sound, she creates a juxtaposition that refuses to allow her appearance to be used against her intellectual or artistic depth.

Growing up north of downtown Memphis near the Mississippi River, Wages remains deeply inspired by the city’s "underdog mentality". She views her career as a "climb" and remains "more fired up now" than she was a decade ago. Whether performing in "shitty dive bars" or on major stages, her focus is on the "magic" of a lyric shifting someone’s heart, a goal she pursues with a relentless growth mindset.