Sixpence None the Richer

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Sixpence None the Richer
Sixpence None the Richer 2013.jpg
Sixpence None the Richer performing in 2013
Background information
Origin New Braunfels, Texas, U.S.
Genres Alternative rock, Christian rock
Years active 1992–2004, 2007–present
Labels
Website sixpence-ntr.com
Members Leigh Nash
Matt Slocum
Justin Cary
Rob Mitchell
Past members T.J. Behling
Dale Baker
Tess Wiley
Joel Bailey
James Arhelger
J.J. Plasencio
Sean Kelly
Jerry Dale McFadden
Jason Lehning

Sixpence None the Richer (also known as Sixpence) is an American Christian alternative rock 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.[1] The band received two Grammy Award nominations, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Kiss Me" and Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album for Sixpence None the Richer (1997).[2]

History

Origin of the band's name

Vocalist Leigh Nash described the origin of the band's name on the Late Show with David Letterman:[3]

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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 in use at the time—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 Slocum met Leigh Nash in the early 1990s. They recorded a demo, which circulates as "The Original Demos", with bassist T.J. Behling 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 traveled 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.

Into the mainstream (1997–2003)

In 1997, the group signed to Steve Taylor's label Squint Entertainment and released a self-titled album, which slowly began garnering attention from a wider audience in the mainstream industry. Although Placencio played bass on most of the album, he left the band in May 1997, before it was released, and was replaced by Justin Cary, who joined the band around the same time as second guitarist Sean Kelly.

In 1998, "Kiss Me" was released as a single, propelling Sixpence None the Richer into the national pop spotlight. The next year, the band followed up "Kiss Me" with a cover of The La's' "There She Goes". Sixpence appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and numerous morning talk shows. "There She Goes" was added to subsequent pressings of the self-titled album.

In 2000, Sixpence None the Richer contributed the song "Us" to Today Presents: the Best of Summer Concert Series CD, which raised money for the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance. Later that year, the band recorded a Japanese version of "Kiss Me", which was released exclusively in Japan on an EP with numerous versions of the song, as well as remixes of other songs on the self-titled album.

The band had a follow-up album ready to release, but their label Squint Entertainment started to fall apart, leaving the band in limbo for several years. Finally, Squint Entertainment folded and that album, Divine Discontent, was released in October 2002.

Baker left the band before that album's release and was replaced by Rob Mitchell. The album itself differs significantly from the first pre-release version of it that had circulated: the songs "Us", "Deeper", "Don't Pass Me By", "Too Far Gone", "Northern Lights", and "Loser Like Me" were cut; and "Down and Out of Time", "A Million Parachutes", "Tonight", "Waiting on the Sun", and a cover of Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" were added. All of the unreleased songs were eventually featured on singles or compilations, with the exception of "Deeper". Two of Divine Discontent's singles, "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Breathe Your Name", received significant radio airplay and appeared on various Billboard charts.

Disbanding (2004–2007)

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, drummer of the band Departure Lounge, and Sam Ashworth, son of musician Charlie Peacock. 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 began work on a solo album titled Blue on Blue 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 the Christmas EP Wishing For This on November 14, 2006.

In 2007, Nash worked a collaboration with Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber of Delerium called Fauxliage. Nash contributed vocals to "All the World", "Some Day the Wind", "Draw My Life", "Let It Go", "Without You", "Rafe" and "All Alone".

Reunion and Lost in Transition (2007–present)

In November 2007, Sixpence None the Richer reunited. They released the 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. 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.

Sixpence signed to Credential Recordings 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.[4] The album, titled Strange Conversation, was originally slated for an August 24, 2010, release.

In 2011, she released a worship album, Hymns and Sacred Songs, the first of three contracted solo albums through a partnership with Kingsway Music.[citation needed]

The putative release date was later changed to March 8, 2011.[5] On April 12, 2011, Nash shared that record label problems had been resolved and that the album would be released.[6] New recordings of the songs "Failure" and "Safety Line" were released as streaming audio on the band's Facebook page in July 2011.

In December 2011, Nash announced in interviews that the album had been renamed Lost in Transition and that the band was intending to self-release it in March 2012. She also mentioned the possibility of more than one Sixpence release in 2012.[7][8]

On February 2, 2012, Leigh Nash posted on Sixpence None the Richer's official Twitter feed that the album would be released in May 2012.[9] The song "Radio" from the album debuted on Perez Hilton's site on May 15, 2012.[10] In an interview with American Songwriter Matt Slocum describes the song: "While driving and listening to the radio, an old favorite song inspires a man to reminisce about an old relationship born from a road trip."[11] The album was released on August 7, 2012.

In a 2012 interview with Fuse TV, Nash mentioned that her next two solo projects would be hymn worship albums, and also expressed interest in making a country record.[12] In 2015, she released The State I'm In, with Brendan Benson as producer under One Son Records.[13]

On November 12, 2016, the band performed at Love Love Rock Festival in Taipei, Taiwan, including hits "Don't Dream It's Over", "Kiss Me" and "There She Goes".[14]

Band members

Current members

  • Leigh Nash – vocals (1992–2004, 2007–present)
  • Matt Slocum – guitar, cello (1992–2004, 2007–present)
  • Justin Cary – bass (1997–2004, 2008–present)
  • Rob Mitchell – drums (2001–2004, 2012–present)

Former members

  • T.J. Behling – bass (1992–1993)
  • Mark Couvillion – guitars (1992–1993)
  • Tess Wiley – guitars, vocals (1994–1996, 2008)
  • Dale Baker – drums (1993–2001)
  • James Arhelger – bass (1993–1994)
  • Joel Bailey – bass (1994) also in Society's Finest
  • J.J. Plasencio – bass (1995–1997)
  • Sean Kelly – guitars (1997–2004)
  • Jerry Dale McFadden – keyboards (2001–2004)
  • Jason Lehning – keyboards (2012–2013)

Awards and nominations

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Year Awards Work Category Result
1996 Dove Awards This Beautiful Mess Best Alternative/Modern Rock Album Won
1998 Sixpence None the Richer Nominated
Recorded Music Packaging of the Year Nominated
"Love" Modern Rock/Alternative Recorded Song of the Year Nominated
Billboard Music Video Awards "Kiss Me" Best New Artist Clip, Contemporary Christian Nominated
1999 Grammy Awards Sixpence None the Richer Best Rock Gospel Album Nominated
Teen Choice Awards "Kiss Me" Choice Music: Love Song Nominated
Dove Awards Short Form Music Video of the Year Nominated
Billboard Music Awards Top Hot 100 Airplay Track Nominated
Top Adult Top 40 Track Nominated
Top Soundtrack Single Won
Themselves Top Hot 100 Artist - Duo/Group Nominated
Top Adult Top 40 Artist Nominated
2000 Grammy Awards "Kiss Me" Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Nominated
APRA Music Awards Most Performed Foreign Work Nominated
Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards Themselves Favorite Band Nominated
Dove Awards Group of the Year Won
2001 Young Hollywood Awards "Kiss Me" Best Song Won
BMI Pop Awards "There She Goes" Award-Winning Song[15] Won
2003 Dove Awards "Breathe Your Name" Modern Rock/Alternative Recorded Song of the Year Won
Divine Discontent Best Alternative/Modern Rock Album Nominated
Themselves Group of the Year Nominated
BDSCertified Spin Awards "Kiss Me" 600,000 Spins Won
2006 700,000 Spins Won

Discography

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Main article: Sixpence None the Richer discography

References

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External links

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