Leigh Bingham Nash
Encyclopedia
Leigh Bingham Nash is an American
singer-songwriter
who is the lead vocalist for the pop
band Sixpence None the Richer
and is also a member of Fauxliage
and Movement Nashville.
Her debut solo album, Blue on Blue
, was released on August 15, 2006 by One Son/ Nettwerk record labels.
. She started singing country music and learning old country songs on the guitar at the age of 12. She had several years' experience singing in local cafes with a middle-aged band and performed regularly at a Texan country & western dance hall. She met guitarist and songwriter Matt Slocum
at a church retreat in the early 1990s.
by the author C.S. Lewis, soon after and went on to record four full-length albums with the band. Their first album, released when she was just 16, was The Fatherless & the Widow
. The album garnered critical acclaim and Slocum and Nash searched for new band members.
Joined by Tess Wiley
, Dale Baker, and J.J. Plascencio, the new band recorded This Beautiful Mess
, which won a Dove Award for Best Album. Wiley quit the band after their US tour and the band released the Tickets for a Prayer Wheel
EP and then signed to the Squint Records label
following the demise of REX.
The band's eponymous album was released in 1997 and the single "Kiss Me
" in 1999. In 1999 they received numerous Dove Awards, including Best Artist of the Year. The band was also nominated for a Grammy Award. A second single "There She Goes
", which hit Billboard
, followed by a third single "I Can't Catch You".
In 2000, Nash sang the song "Need to Be Next to You
" for the movie Bounce
in order to thank Miramax that had used "Kiss Me
" in the movie She's All That
and brought them into the spotlight. Written by Diane Warren
, it became Nash's first solo single.
After problems with their record labels, Sixpence None the Richer came back in 2001 with the album Divine Discontent after losing both Dale Baker and J.J. Plascencio. Two singles from that album, "Breathe Your Name" and "Don't Dream It's Over
", went onto the charts. However, Sixpence None the Richer announced their break-up on 26 February 2004, when Slocum sent a letter to CCM Magazine
. After that, the band released The Best of Sixpence None the Richer
.
In spite of the colossal success the band enjoyed with ubiquitous pop singles like "Kiss Me" and "There She Goes", the group was continually plagued by the business woes of the trade and finally decided to split ways amicably. Disoriented by this major change, Nash and her husband left their Nashville home of 10 years and moved to Los Angeles.
While in L.A., Nash penned a batch of songs that would eventually comprise her first solo record, Blue on Blue
, which was released in August 2006 on One Son Records, Nash's own imprint label through Nettwerk
Productions. During the record time of making Blue on Blue, Nash flew to Canada several times. The first single, "My Idea of Heaven", was released to USA radio the week of 14 July 2006, and the song "Ocean Size Love" was to be the second single, but it was a promo release only. She has also recorded a song "Mirrors and Smoke" with the band Jars of Clay
on their album Good Monsters
the same year.
In the meantime, Nash moved back to Nashville, Tennessee
and into a new community of musicians – a recently formed rock collective called Movement Nashville.
In 2007, Nash began a new band, Fauxliage
, with Canadian band Delerium
, which released a self-titled album on August 14, 2007. Nash, Megan Thompson and Kate York also started a Christian band called Thompson, York & Nash. They worked on a few songs that have been put on MySpace. However, none of the songs posted on their MySpace page have been formally released.
In late 2007, Nash and Slocum met over coffee and positively discussed the reuniting of Sixpence None the Richer. In January 2008 Nash traveled to New Zealand
to perform at the annual Parachute Music Festival
. Performing on the main stage twice, she attracted crowds of over 30,000 who enjoyed her acoustic covers of Sixpence None the Richer hits "Kiss Me
" and "There She Goes
". In the fall of 2008, Leigh toured with Delerium
.
Leigh has since rejoined Sixpence and worked on a new EP My Dear Machine EP
, and the Christmas album The Dawn of Grace
with tour dates planned throughout 2008 in the States and Europe. Tess Wiley is also back to support Sixpence's European tour.
Leigh will join Open Wings-Broken Strings tour in 2009 fall, along with Eddie Kowalczyk of Live, Art Alexakis
of Everclear
. After that Leigh will back to Sixpence to jump into the studio to record a new album.
, Loretta Lynn
, and Patsy Cline
.
"I started singing country music and learning old country songs on the guitar when I was 12. I was really, really shy but just had this desire to get on stage and started calling clubs myself to ask if I could come down and sing", says Nash, who grew up in the southern Texas town of New Braunfels.
Before long, the adolescent Nash was singing Loretta Lynn and Tanya Tucker songs like "You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man" and "Texas When I Die" on alcohol-free, open mic Sunday nights, backed by a middle-aged band of town locals. In spite of her country allure, Nash never developed an accent, and later in life her interest in pop acts like The Sundays
, Innocence Mission, and The Cranberries
provided more formative material for her songwriting and singing.
drummer Mark Nash
in May 1996, who she met while both bands were performing at the Cornerstone Festival
in Illinois
. They had one child together in 2004. The couple divorced in 2007. Leigh married musician Stephen Wilson in 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
who is the lead vocalist for the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band Sixpence None the Richer
Sixpence None the Richer
Sixpence None the Richer is an American rock/pop band that formed in New Braunfels, Texas, eventually settling in Nashville, Tennessee. They are best known for their songs "Kiss Me" and "Breathe Your Name" and their covers of "Don't Dream It's Over" and "There She Goes". The name of the band is...
and is also a member of Fauxliage
Fauxliage
Fauxliage is a musical project made by members of the Canadian electronic music group Delerium and Leigh Nash in 2007. The vocals are performed exclusively with Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer.-Track listing:...
and Movement Nashville.
Her debut solo album, Blue on Blue
Blue on Blue
Blue on Blue is Leigh Nash's debut solo album. Nash began working on the album a year after Sixpence None the Richer disbanded. Produced by Pierre Marchand who is famous for his collaborations with Sarah McLachlan, the album consists of pop songs....
, was released on August 15, 2006 by One Son/ Nettwerk record labels.
Early life
Nash was born Leigh Anne Bingham in New Braunfels, TexasNew Braunfels, Texas
New Braunfels is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas that is a principal city of the metropolitan area. Braunfels means "brown rock" in German; the city is named for Braunfels, in Germany. The city's population was 57,740 as of the 2010 census, up 58% from the 2000...
. She started singing country music and learning old country songs on the guitar at the age of 12. She had several years' experience singing in local cafes with a middle-aged band and performed regularly at a Texan country & western dance hall. She met guitarist and songwriter Matt Slocum
Matt Slocum
Matt Slocum is a guitarist, cellist, pianist and composer, known for his work as the principal songwriter and lead guitarist of Sixpence None the Richer....
at a church retreat in the early 1990s.
Career
The two formed Sixpence None the Richer, named for a line from the book Mere ChristianityMere Christianity
Mere Christianity is a theological book by C. S. Lewis, adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1941 and 1944, while Lewis was at Oxford during World War II...
by the author C.S. Lewis, soon after and went on to record four full-length albums with the band. Their first album, released when she was just 16, was The Fatherless & the Widow
The Fatherless & the Widow
The Fatherless and the Widow is the debut album by American band Sixpence None the Richer, released in 1994.-Track listing:All songs by Matt Slocum, except where noted#"Field of Flowers" – 2:37#"Spotlight" The Fatherless and the Widow is the debut album by American band Sixpence None the Richer,...
. The album garnered critical acclaim and Slocum and Nash searched for new band members.
Joined by Tess Wiley
Tess Wiley
Tess Wiley is an American musician currently living in Germany.-Early life:Tess Wiley is the daughter of a Grammy award winning father and author/poet mother. Tess showed an interest in music and songwriting from an early age, adding Create In Me a Clean Heart and Tender Shepherd to her repertoire...
, Dale Baker, and J.J. Plascencio, the new band recorded This Beautiful Mess
This Beautiful Mess
This Beautiful Mess is the second album by American band Sixpence None the Richer, released in 1995 . The recording was produced by Armand John Petri, who also managed the band from 1993 to 1997. This Beautiful Mess surpassed 50,000 copies sold during its first year of release and laid the...
, which won a Dove Award for Best Album. Wiley quit the band after their US tour and the band released the Tickets for a Prayer Wheel
Tickets for a Prayer Wheel
Tickets for a Prayer Wheel is an EP by the alternative rock band Sixpence None the Richer. The EP is made of two versions of the song Within a Room Somewhere, six unreleased before tracks including two instrumentals and the dance mix of a song Love, Salvation, the Fear of Death.-Track listing:#...
EP and then signed to the Squint Records label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
following the demise of REX.
The band's eponymous album was released in 1997 and the single "Kiss Me
Kiss Me
"Kiss Me" is a song recorded by Sixpence None the Richer and released on the 1997 album Sixpence None the Richer. It reached number two on the U.S...
" in 1999. In 1999 they received numerous Dove Awards, including Best Artist of the Year. The band was also nominated for a Grammy Award. A second single "There She Goes
There She Goes
"There She Goes" is a song written by British singer/guitarist Lee Mavers and recorded first by Mavers' band, The La's.In May 2007, the NME magazine placed the song at number 45 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.-Lyrics and meaning:...
", which hit Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, followed by a third single "I Can't Catch You".
In 2000, Nash sang the song "Need to Be Next to You
Need to Be Next to You
"Need to Be Next to You" is the debut single by Leigh Nash, written by renown American songwriter, Diane Warren.It was recorded during the mainstream years of Leigh's band Sixpence None the Richer, as her own solo single....
" for the movie Bounce
Bounce (film)
Bounce is a 2000 romantic drama film starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow and directed by Don Roos.-Plot:Advertising executive Buddy has just signed an airline in Chicago as a big client but is later delayed by a snow storm waiting for a flight to Los Angeles on the same airline...
in order to thank Miramax that had used "Kiss Me
Kiss Me
"Kiss Me" is a song recorded by Sixpence None the Richer and released on the 1997 album Sixpence None the Richer. It reached number two on the U.S...
" in the movie She's All That
She's All That
She's All That is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Iscove, and is a modern adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion...
and brought them into the spotlight. Written by Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
, it became Nash's first solo single.
After problems with their record labels, Sixpence None the Richer came back in 2001 with the album Divine Discontent after losing both Dale Baker and J.J. Plascencio. Two singles from that album, "Breathe Your Name" and "Don't Dream It's Over
Don't Dream It's Over
-12": Capitol / 12CL 438 United Kingdom :* also available on CD and MC-Personnel:*Neil Finn: Vocals and guitar*Nick Seymour: Bass guitar*Paul Hester: Drums and backing vocals*Mitchell Froom: Keyboards-Release history:- Charts :...
", went onto the charts. However, Sixpence None the Richer announced their break-up on 26 February 2004, when Slocum sent a letter to CCM Magazine
CCM Magazine
CCM Magazine was a monthly magazine published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. It was first published in July 1978, and it has always been a Christian music magazine. On January 16, 2008, Salem announced that the April 2008 issue would be the final printed issue of the...
. After that, the band released The Best of Sixpence None the Richer
The Best of Sixpence None the Richer
The Best of Sixpence None the Richer is a greatest hits album of American band Sixpence None the Richer, released in 2004...
.
In spite of the colossal success the band enjoyed with ubiquitous pop singles like "Kiss Me" and "There She Goes", the group was continually plagued by the business woes of the trade and finally decided to split ways amicably. Disoriented by this major change, Nash and her husband left their Nashville home of 10 years and moved to Los Angeles.
While in L.A., Nash penned a batch of songs that would eventually comprise her first solo record, Blue on Blue
Blue on Blue
Blue on Blue is Leigh Nash's debut solo album. Nash began working on the album a year after Sixpence None the Richer disbanded. Produced by Pierre Marchand who is famous for his collaborations with Sarah McLachlan, the album consists of pop songs....
, which was released in August 2006 on One Son Records, Nash's own imprint label through Nettwerk
Nettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
Productions. During the record time of making Blue on Blue, Nash flew to Canada several times. The first single, "My Idea of Heaven", was released to USA radio the week of 14 July 2006, and the song "Ocean Size Love" was to be the second single, but it was a promo release only. She has also recorded a song "Mirrors and Smoke" with the band Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay is a Christian rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. They met at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois.Jars of Clay consists of Dan Haseltine on vocals, Charlie Lowell on piano and keyboards, Stephen Mason on lead guitars and Matthew Odmark on rhythm guitars...
on their album Good Monsters
Good Monsters
Good Monsters is the eighth full-length album from Jars of Clay, released by Essential Records on September 5, 2006. This is their last album of new material from Essential Records and it is said to be lyrically their most aggressive album to date. It features eleven original songs, and a remake of...
the same year.
In the meantime, Nash moved back to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and into a new community of musicians – a recently formed rock collective called Movement Nashville.
In 2007, Nash began a new band, Fauxliage
Fauxliage
Fauxliage is a musical project made by members of the Canadian electronic music group Delerium and Leigh Nash in 2007. The vocals are performed exclusively with Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer.-Track listing:...
, with Canadian band Delerium
Delerium
Delerium is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act, Front Line Assembly...
, which released a self-titled album on August 14, 2007. Nash, Megan Thompson and Kate York also started a Christian band called Thompson, York & Nash. They worked on a few songs that have been put on MySpace. However, none of the songs posted on their MySpace page have been formally released.
In late 2007, Nash and Slocum met over coffee and positively discussed the reuniting of Sixpence None the Richer. In January 2008 Nash traveled to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
to perform at the annual Parachute Music Festival
Parachute music festival
The Parachute Music Festival is a Christian music festival held annually at Mystery Creek Events Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand.The festival is run by Parachute Music and lasts for four days and three nights. 'Parachute' is the Southern Hemisphere's largest Christian music festival, primarily...
. Performing on the main stage twice, she attracted crowds of over 30,000 who enjoyed her acoustic covers of Sixpence None the Richer hits "Kiss Me
Kiss Me
"Kiss Me" is a song recorded by Sixpence None the Richer and released on the 1997 album Sixpence None the Richer. It reached number two on the U.S...
" and "There She Goes
There She Goes
"There She Goes" is a song written by British singer/guitarist Lee Mavers and recorded first by Mavers' band, The La's.In May 2007, the NME magazine placed the song at number 45 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.-Lyrics and meaning:...
". In the fall of 2008, Leigh toured with Delerium
Delerium
Delerium is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act, Front Line Assembly...
.
Leigh has since rejoined Sixpence and worked on a new EP My Dear Machine EP
My Dear Machine EP
My Dear Machine is an EP by the Indie pop band Sixpence None the Richer, released on the music website NoiseTrade in summer 2008, though it was discontinued from the site in early 2009...
, and the Christmas album The Dawn of Grace
The Dawn of Grace
The Dawn of Grace is a Christmas album by the alternative rock/indie pop band Sixpence None the Richer. It was released on October 14, 2008...
with tour dates planned throughout 2008 in the States and Europe. Tess Wiley is also back to support Sixpence's European tour.
Leigh will join Open Wings-Broken Strings tour in 2009 fall, along with Eddie Kowalczyk of Live, Art Alexakis
Art Alexakis
Arthur Paul "Art" Alexakis is best known as the American singer, composer, and lead guitarist of the rock band Everclear. He has been a member of several notable bands, in addition to his own work as a songwriter for other artists...
of Everclear
Everclear (band)
Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...
. After that Leigh will back to Sixpence to jump into the studio to record a new album.
Inspiration
Nash has two distinct poles of inspiration: her work with Sixpence in the Christian music sphere and her childhood fascination with older female country artists like Tanya TuckerTanya Tucker
Tanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...
, Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, and Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
.
"I started singing country music and learning old country songs on the guitar when I was 12. I was really, really shy but just had this desire to get on stage and started calling clubs myself to ask if I could come down and sing", says Nash, who grew up in the southern Texas town of New Braunfels.
Before long, the adolescent Nash was singing Loretta Lynn and Tanya Tucker songs like "You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man" and "Texas When I Die" on alcohol-free, open mic Sunday nights, backed by a middle-aged band of town locals. In spite of her country allure, Nash never developed an accent, and later in life her interest in pop acts like The Sundays
The Sundays
The Sundays were an English alternative rock band. The band formed in the late 1980s and released three albums in the 1990s.-Career:The band's beginnings came with the meeting of Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin at university. Wheeler had played gigs with 'Cruel Shoes' an early...
, Innocence Mission, and The Cranberries
The Cranberries
The Cranberries are an Irish rock band formed in Limerick in 1989 under the name The Cranberry Saw Us, later changed by vocalist Dolores O'Riordan. The band currently consists of O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler...
provided more formative material for her songwriting and singing.
Personal life
Leigh is the younger of two sisters. She married PFRPFR
PFR was a Christian music group in the mid 1990s. Although the group disbanded in 1997, they reunited in 2000 and have since recorded two albums, and they continue to play together.-History:...
drummer Mark Nash
Mark Nash
Mark Nash is the drummer for Christian rock band PFR, and former husband to Leigh Bingham Nash of Sixpence None the Richer. Nash also served as A&R for Squint Entertainment.-External links:*...
in May 1996, who she met while both bands were performing at the Cornerstone Festival
Cornerstone Festival
Cornerstone Festival is a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around the 4th of July near Bushnell, Illinois. In a given year, many artists that play at Cornerstone also play at other events such as Creation Festival and mainstream festivals and tours such as the...
in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. They had one child together in 2004. The couple divorced in 2007. Leigh married musician Stephen Wilson in 2011.
Albums
| Year | Album | Singles |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Blue on Blue Blue on Blue Blue on Blue is Leigh Nash's debut solo album. Nash began working on the album a year after Sixpence None the Richer disbanded. Produced by Pierre Marchand who is famous for his collaborations with Sarah McLachlan, the album consists of pop songs....
|
|
| 2006 | Wishing For This Wishing for This Wishing For This is a Christmas EP by the alternative rock/indie pop artist and Sixpence None the Richer member Leigh Nash. It was released for download on November 14, 2006... |
|
| 2007 | Fauxliage Fauxliage Fauxliage is a musical project made by members of the Canadian electronic music group Delerium and Leigh Nash in 2007. The vocals are performed exclusively with Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer.-Track listing:... (with Delerium) |
|
| 2011 | Hymns And Sacred Songs
EMI The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... |
Compilation appearances
- "I Sought The Lord" - Bifrost ArtsBifrost ArtsBifrost Arts is an ecumenical religious organization closely linked to the Presbyterian Church in America that produces written and recorded religious music, and frequently performs at Christian Universities and conferences....
' Come O Spirit (Sounds Familyre 2009) - "Good (Adam & Eve)" - with Matthew WestMatthew WestOn July 26, 2002, only a week or two before signing a record contract with Universal South Records, West had an injury to his left arm which threatened his musical career and guitar playing. He says, "I locked myself out of my house. But I'd done that before, and I had a way of breaking in through...
Music Inspired by the Story (EMI Christian Music GroupEMI Christian Music GroupEMI Christian Music Group is a subsidiary of EMI which contains its Christian music record labels, and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee...
2011)