Sixpence None the Richer
Encyclopedia
Sixpence None the Richer (also known as Sixpence) 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 inspired by a passage from the book Mere Christianity
by C. S. Lewis
.
:
met vocalist Leigh Nash in the early 1990s. They recorded a demo, which now circulates as "The Original Demos", with bassist T.J. Behling and drummer Brad Arnold at Verge Music Works recording studio in Dallas, and eventually an album, The Fatherless and the Widow, for the independent label REX Music in 1993. The record featured Chris Dodds (a member of Love Coma
, in which Slocum also played guitar). Shortly after the release of The Fatherless and the Widow, Slocum left Love Coma to pursue Sixpence None the Richer full-time. The band added Tess Wiley
(guitar) Joel Bailey (bass) and Dale Baker (drums) to tour in support of The Fatherless and The Widow. On this tour the band toured the US, opening for the Choir, the newly reformed 10,000 Maniacs, Audio Adrenaline, Pray For Rain, Over The Rhine, and more. In the fall of 1994, the band left for their first tour of Europe. The club and festival tour saw them performing with bands such as the Proclaimers, Newsboys, Julie & Buddy Miller, and many more. The band added J.J. Plasencio (bass) for 1995's This Beautiful Mess
. Both albums were produced by Armand John Petri, who also managed the band from 1993 to 1997. Shortly after the release of This Beautiful Mess, Wiley left the band.
). John Davis (of the band Superdrag) joined the band in 2005. The Astronaut Pushers released a self-titled, four-song EP on their own label, Runway Network, in 2005. Sam Ashworth reported via MySpace that he and Slocum had acquired and were operating a recording studio in Nashville in early 2006.
with producer Pierre Marchand
in the fall of 2005. Nash's first single "My Idea of Heaven" was released on July 14, 2006. The album Blue On Blue was released by Nettwerk Records under Nash's own imprint, One Son Records and the album's official release date was August 15, 2006, she also released a Christmas EP Wishing For This on 14 November 2006. The song "Ocean Size Love" from Blue On Blue
seems to be the second single of Blue On Blue, and yet was never promoted.
In 2007, Leigh Nash worked a collaboration with Bill Leeb
and Rhys Fulber
of Delerium
called Fauxliage
. Leigh contributed her vocals to the songs "All the World", "Some Day the Wind", "Draw My Life", "Let It Go", "Without You", "Rafe" and "All Alone". The songs "Let It Go" and "All the World" were used in the drama series Moonlight
.
In October 2008, they released a Christmas album titled The Dawn of Grace
.
Nash commented, "Sixpence fans have been asking for a Christmas album for as long as I can remember. It was something we always wanted to do, but somehow time got away from us. Now that we are back together, we thought a Christmas album would be a nice gift for our long-time supporters. We love it and hope they will too!"
In December 2008 Sixpence joined the "Love Came Down at Christmas Tour" to play songs from The Dawn of Grace, along with Jars of Clay
, Leeland
and Sara Groves
.
and played a headline slot at the 2009 Greenbelt Festival
in the UK. According to Leigh Nash, the band began recording a new album in January 2010. The album, Strange Conversation, was originally slated for an August 24, 2010 release. It was later changed to March 8, 2011, but record label troubles have delayed the release. As of April 12, 2011, Nash shared that issues with the label have been resolved and the album will be released.
New recordings of the songs "Failure" and "Safety Line" were released as streaming audio on the band's Facebook page in July 2011.
Former members
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/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
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
that formed in New Braunfels, Texas
New 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...
, eventually settling in 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...
. They are best known for their songs "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 "Breathe Your Name" and their covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Don't Dream It's Over" 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:...
". The name of the band is inspired by a passage from the book Mere Christianity
Mere 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 C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
.
Origin of the band's name
Leigh Nash described the origin of the band's name on the Late Show with David LettermanLate Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
:
- It comes from a book by C. S. Lewis called Mere Christianity. A little boy asks his father if he can get a sixpence—a very small amount of English currency—to go and get a gift for his father. The father gladly accepts the gift and he's really happy with it, but he also realizes that he's not any richer for the transaction. C.S. Lewis was comparing that to his belief that God has given him, and us, the gifts that we possess, and to serve Him the way we should, we should do it humbly—realizing how we got the gifts in the first place.
Formation and early years (1992–1996)
Guitarist/songwriter Matt SlocumMatt 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....
met vocalist Leigh Nash in the early 1990s. They recorded a demo, which now circulates as "The Original Demos", with bassist T.J. Behling and drummer Brad Arnold at Verge Music Works recording studio in Dallas, and eventually an album, The Fatherless and the Widow, for the independent label REX Music in 1993. The record featured Chris Dodds (a member of Love Coma
Love Coma
Love Coma was a Christian rock/alternative group in the early 1990s based in the San Antonio - Austin area of Texas.-Members:*Chris Dodds was the drummer.*Matt Slocum was the guitarist.*Chris Taylor was the lead singer....
, in which Slocum also played guitar). Shortly after the release of The Fatherless and the Widow, Slocum left Love Coma to pursue Sixpence None the Richer full-time. The band added 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...
(guitar) Joel Bailey (bass) and Dale Baker (drums) to tour in support of The Fatherless and The Widow. On this tour the band toured the US, opening for the Choir, the newly reformed 10,000 Maniacs, Audio Adrenaline, Pray For Rain, Over The Rhine, and more. In the fall of 1994, the band left for their first tour of Europe. The club and festival tour saw them performing with bands such as the Proclaimers, Newsboys, Julie & Buddy Miller, and many more. The band added J.J. Plasencio (bass) for 1995's 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...
. Both albums were produced by Armand John Petri, who also managed the band from 1993 to 1997. Shortly after the release of This Beautiful Mess, Wiley left the band.
The break-up (2004)
On February 26, 2004, Matt Slocum announced that the group had disbanded. On July 22, 2004, it was reported that Matt Slocum had started a new band, the Astronaut Pushers, with Lindsay Jamieson (of the band Departure Lounge) and Sam Ashworth (son of influential musician Charlie PeacockCharlie Peacock
Charlie Peacock is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, record producer, session musician and author. While growing up in California Peacock was inspired by John Coltrane and began playing the piano. After completing his education, Peacock formed a band and began a career as a professional...
). John Davis (of the band Superdrag) joined the band in 2005. The Astronaut Pushers released a self-titled, four-song EP on their own label, Runway Network, in 2005. Sam Ashworth reported via MySpace that he and Slocum had acquired and were operating a recording studio in Nashville in early 2006.
Leigh Nash solo work (2005–2007)
Leigh Nash began work on a solo album titled Blue On BlueBlue 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....
with producer Pierre Marchand
Pierre Marchand
Pierre Marchand is a Canadian songwriter, musician and record producer.Pierre Marchand is known for his ongoing collaboration with Sarah McLachlan, having produced all of her albums since Solace...
in the fall of 2005. Nash's first single "My Idea of Heaven" was released on July 14, 2006. The album Blue On Blue was released by Nettwerk Records under Nash's own imprint, One Son Records and the album's official release date was August 15, 2006, she also released a Christmas EP Wishing For This on 14 November 2006. The song "Ocean Size Love" from 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....
seems to be the second single of Blue On Blue, and yet was never promoted.
In 2007, Leigh Nash worked a collaboration with Bill Leeb
Bill Leeb
Bill Leeb is an electronic musician.He moved to Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada with his family when he was 13...
and Rhys Fulber
Rhys Fulber
Nowell Rhys Fulber is a Canadian electronic musician and producer. He was a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium along with Bill Leeb, and now records on his own under the name Conjure One.- Biography :...
of 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...
called 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:...
. Leigh contributed her vocals to the songs "All the World", "Some Day the Wind", "Draw My Life", "Let It Go", "Without You", "Rafe" and "All Alone". The songs "Let It Go" and "All the World" were used in the drama series Moonlight
Moonlight (TV series)
Moonlight was an American paranormal romance television drama created by Ron Koslow and Trevor Munson, who was also executive producer for all episodes with Joel Silver, Gerard Bocaccio, Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman. The series follows private investigator Mick St...
.
Reunion (2007)
In November 2007, Sixpence None the Richer reunited. They released an EP My Dear Machine on the website NoiseTrade in 2008, the band's first official release since The Best of Sixpence None the Richer in 2004. The EP was removed from NoiseTrade in early 2009.In October 2008, they released a Christmas album titled 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...
.
Nash commented, "Sixpence fans have been asking for a Christmas album for as long as I can remember. It was something we always wanted to do, but somehow time got away from us. Now that we are back together, we thought a Christmas album would be a nice gift for our long-time supporters. We love it and hope they will too!"
In December 2008 Sixpence joined the "Love Came Down at Christmas Tour" to play songs from The Dawn of Grace, along with 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...
, Leeland
Leeland
Leeland is a Christian rock band from Baytown, Texas. The band was formed in 2004, although lead singer Leeland Mooring had been writing songs beforehand. Leeland is composed of Leeland Mooring , Jack Mooring , Casey Moore , Shelly Mooring and Mike Smith...
and Sara Groves
Sara Groves
Sara Groves is an American Contemporary Christian singer, record producer, and author....
.
Strange Conversation (2009–present)
Sixpence signed to Credential RecordingsCredential Recordings
Credential Recordings is a Nashville-based record label, focusing generally on the pop rock genre. It began branching out when it agreed on a distribution agreement with Lowercase people records for Switchfoot singer Jon Foreman's solo EPs, which tend to be more folk-acoustic in style...
and played a headline slot at the 2009 Greenbelt Festival
Greenbelt festival
Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to its current more secular festival attended by around 20,000 - Christians and non-Christians.The festival...
in the UK. According to Leigh Nash, the band began recording a new album in January 2010. The album, Strange Conversation, was originally slated for an August 24, 2010 release. It was later changed to March 8, 2011, but record label troubles have delayed the release. As of April 12, 2011, Nash shared that issues with the label have been resolved and the album will be released.
New recordings of the songs "Failure" and "Safety Line" were released as streaming audio on the band's Facebook page in July 2011.
Band members
Current members- Matt SlocumMatt SlocumMatt Slocum is a guitarist, cellist, pianist and composer, known for his work as the principal songwriter and lead guitarist of Sixpence None the Richer....
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is... - Leigh Nash – vocals
- Justin Cary – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1997–2004, 2008–)
Former members
- TJ Behling – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1990–1994) - Brad Arnold – drums (1990–1994)
- James Arhelger – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1994–1995) - Joel Bailey – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1994–1995) - Dale Baker http://www.dalebakerdrummer.com – drums (1993–2001)
- Tess WileyTess WileyTess 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...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1995–1996) also in Sixpence None the Richer 2008 European Tour - J.J. Plasencio – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1995–1996) - Sean Kelly – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1997–2004) - Rob Mitchell – drums (2001–2004)
- Jerry Dale McFadden – keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
(2001–2004)
Studio albums
- 1992: The Original Demos
- 1994: The Fatherless and the Widow
- 1995: This Beautiful MessThis Beautiful MessThis 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...
- 1997: Sixpence None the RicherSixpence None the Richer (album)Sixpence None the Richer is the third album by American band Sixpence None the Richer, released in 1997.The album was listed at #19 in the 2001 book, CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music.-Track listing:...
- 2002: Divine DiscontentDivine DiscontentDivine Discontent is the fourth album by American band Sixpence None the Richer, released in 2002.-Track listing:#"Breathe Your Name" : 3:56#"Tonight" : 3:52#"Down and Out of Time" : 3:28...
- 2008: The Dawn of GraceThe Dawn of GraceThe 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...
- 2012: Strange Conversation
External links
- Official Site (MySpace page)