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After Harry was posted back to the States, Pepper moved away and retired from playing.  By this time, Les and his bandmates were hooked on Country music and decided to switch from pop to Country, despite their lack of experience and knowledge of the genre. Before he went back to the States, Harry gifted The Likely Lads a Sony reel to reel tape recorder with hours of Country music mostly from the 60’s which introduced them to the likes of Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Ray Price etc.  They had never heard of most of these Country singers but it gave them a great start in their new direction.  Les got hooked on the pedal steel guitar while listening to these tapes. They knew it was a step in the dark but Les and his bandmates decided they enjoyed the music so much and knew it was what they wanted to do. They recruited a lead guitarist and formed The Mountain Dew Country band in 1970 and Les bought a pedal steel guitar and taught himself to play.
They started as a 5-piece with Terry Rose (lead vocals and drums), Les Wright (guitar), John Worfolk (guitar), John Cork (bass) and Douggie Empson (drums) After a few weeks, Douggie left the band to concentrate on his business building custom racing bike frames and he retired from all playing and the band carried on as a 4-piece. The band was also sometimes known as The New Mountain Dew and Terry Rose & The Mountain Dew. They were signed to Philips Records and released a 12 track album Southern Journey in 1971. 
The band split up at the end of that year and Les joined Cambridge band Countrystyle. He replaced a GI fiddle player from Mildenhall who had left to form his own band The Western Echos. Lead singer Pat Judge left in 1975 (and later went on to form Circuit Judge) and was replaced by Sue Thurlow who was a classically trained soprano but had little experience of live band gigs. She was, however, a fervent Linda Ronstadt fan and quickly adapted to Country music.
At this time, the line up was Sue Thurlow (lead vocals), John Worfolk (guitar and vocals), Les Wright (pedal steel guitar), Roy Linsey (bass and vocals) and Mick ‘Tex’ Downes (drums). Countrystyle split at the end of the 1970s and Sue and the band’s the lead guitarist joined the Kings Lynn based Mark Lindsay Band – Sue Thurlow (lead vocals), Mike Williamson (lead guitar), John Worfolk (bass) and Mal Ashby (drums); they were a function band playing a wide variety of music genres.  At this time Les took a short break from playing.
In late 1981 Les was called on by the Kings Lynn based Country band Pinewood County whose lead guitarist had suddenly quit. Pinewood County was started by Laurie Seward and his brother with Paul O’Connell (guitar), Davie Morland (bass) and Kevin Cahill (drums). What started as a one month fill-in became permanent. The lead singer had ambitions for the band to have more talent and eventually all the rest of the band members were replaced by Roy Linsey (bass) – a former member of Countrystyle, Dennis Scott (drums), Ron Pitt (guitar) and Sue Wright (vocals) – by this time Sue and Les were married. Having made those changes, Laurie also left his own band and started doing karaoke and Sue took over as lead vocalist. This lineup recorded a cassette album, Pinewood County, and appeared on the opening night of 5th Peterborough Festival Of Country Music on the 24th August 1984 with Tommy Cash (US) and Poacher (UK) as the headline acts that day. John Derek & Country Fever was also on the bill that night. Les Wright went on to do a number of gigs with Country Fever. 
Les Wright had known British Country singer Jed Ford for many years since Countrystyle were the supporting act when he appeared at a holiday venue where they were playing. Both Countrystyle and Pinewood County later acted as his backing band on numerous occasions. Pinewood County and Country Fever (with Les Wright) have also backed a number of visiting US singers including Hank Thompson, Nat Stuckey, Hank Locklin, Barbara Fairchild and Tommy Cash.
By the later part of the 1980s Les and Sue Wright started doing duo gigs as The Wrights to supplement the band work. In 1991, Kings Lynn based soloist Mervyn J Futter formed Merv and Eddie duo with Eddie Reed (lead guitar and vocals).  Later that year the duo expanded into a 5-piece band, Mervyn J Futter and his All Star Country Band. The line up was Mervyn J Futter (vocals, rhythm guitar and bass guitar), Sue Wright (vocals), Les Wright (bass guitar, pedal steel guitar and vocals), Eddie Reed (vocals and lead guitar) and Billy Key (drums). When Les played pedal steel, Mervyn switched to bass.  Sue and Les were still performing as The Wrights while they were members of the band.
Billy Key only stayed with the band for a year and when he left they became a 4-piece and carried on with the drum machine that Merv used for his solo act. The band recorded one cassette album, Good Time Thank You in 1995. The band folded in 1996 after which Les and Sue Wright continued to perform as The Wrights.
In 2008 Merv and his daughter Maria, who were by that time performing as Merv and Maria Duo (since 2000) put together a 6-piece band to play behind Ollie Austin. Ollie Austin And His All Star Country Band comprised Ollie Austin (lead vocals), Andy James (drums), Les Wright (vocals and pedal steel guitar), Debbie Allen (vocals and keyboards), Maria Futter (vocals and bass) and Merv Futter (vocals and lead guitar). They stayed together for a couple of years playing concerts and including many theatre shows. They recorded one CD album, Ollie Austin & The All Stars Vol 1 in 2008.
The Wrights Duo came off the road in 2012 after which Sue and Les joined Ron Ryan. Tony Harris and Reg Stratton as Country Knights. They stayed together until Covid lockdown in 2019. Since Covid Les has retired from all pedal steel and guitar playing.