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Sixpence None the Richer
A Conversation with Leigh Nash
October 18,2024 by Traci Turner
In June of this year, social media lit up after Sixpence None the Richer announced a 25th anniversary tour, and to be honest, the intensity of reactions surprised me.
The extreme excitement in comments across all social media platforms was incredible, and a common thread seemed to connect them: Sixpence None the Richer was the voice of so many happy memories of the late ‘90s to early ‘00s.
In movies, TV, and radio, Sixpence None the Richer was an integral piece of the soundtrack of that time, just as Psychedelic Furs, OMD, and Simple Minds immediately bring the ‘80s classics “Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink” to mind.
But, Sixpence None the Richer is not letting multi-platinum “Kiss Me,” or their cover of The La’s “There She Goes,” and Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream it’s Over” define them now.
Fans got an inkling something was up last year when front-women Leigh Nash released the song “The Tide” and gave additional credit to Sixpence None the Richer, the first new music for the band in over a decade.
In addition to the tour announcement, the band just dropped an EP, “Rosemary Hill,” and they truly sound amazing. While I tend to dislike overused phrases, I have to resort to one to say Leigh Nash’s voice remains *chef’s kiss.*
The band has just released a video for the title track, filmed in their hometown of New Braunfels, Texas.
Sixpence will tour North America through the remainder of 2024, having just kicked things off last week. OC Music News was able to check in with Nash the day after the first show.
Traci: Leigh thank you for talking to me! I know this is a crazy week!
Leigh: Of course!
Traci: You and I live in Nashville, so before we talk music, we need to handle something very important: If you were forced to ride one party vehicle on Broadway, what would it be?
Leigh: (laughing) That’s such a great question! Oh, my Lord. If I was forced, I suppose… I would say a pedal tavern?
Traci: That’s the classic. The original before things got insane here. (laughing) Ok, before we jump into Sixpence, I have to comment on your single, “Unraveling.” It’s just… It’s gorgeous.
Leigh: Thank you!
Traci: Such a beautiful song. Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears sings it with you; how did that duet come about?
Leigh: I wrote it a long time ago with a guy named David Naish in Nashville. He’s a great writer. I think I brought the idea in as a negative. If I remember correctly, he was like, “Hey, we could put a positive spin on this.” We made it this gorgeous love song. Then I was working with a company called Visionary Media Group, and a woman that was working there at the time, Anastasia Brown – well she’s freaking legend. A lady walked up off the street or kept calling about a meeting, and her name is Deborah Balm, and she works Roland. Anastasia played the song for Deborah, Deborah loved the song and played it for Roland, and that was the end of it. He loved it enough to agree to sing with me, which is just a massive dream come true for me.
Traci: Your voices go together so well.
Leigh: I’m really, really, really proud of that one.
Traci: Of course, most people know you from Sixpence None the Richer and “Kiss Me,” which recently went three times platinum, so congratulations on that.
Leigh: Thank you.
Traci: Was that the first song of yours that you heard on the radio?
Leigh: No, I think the first song was called “Trust.” It was off our very first album, “The Fatherless and the Widow.” It was so exciting and awesome. I think we were just like, “Holy cow, somebody’s playing our song!” So yeah, pretty sweet.
Traci: In the ‘80s, there was a soundtrack that was characteristic of movies and TV, like OMD and Simple Minds, that instantly takes me back. In the late ‘90s, early 2000s, whenever those years are talked about, you guys are brought up as one of the iconic artists. How does that make you feel?
Leigh: I think it’s just now becoming apparent how much our band has meant to people over the years, and it’s not just people of our generation. Now we’ve got this new crop of adorable 20-somethings, or even as young as 17, coming out to our shows because they discovered it through somebody else covering it or we’ve had a few moments on TikTok that have gone viral. And so people are like, “Oh, my gosh, what’s this new song?” Then they find out there’s a band attached to it. That’s been a really, really sweet surprise. I never thought that we would get some of these young people to potentially harvest an influence in, hopefully, a positive way. We played our first show in Knoxville last night, and there were so many young people. I love to see people my own age and older, but people my kid’s age, it means so much. So that’s a really sweet surprise these days.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery | Oscar Wilde
Traci: What happens in a moment like that? You’re home, you’re doing dishes, and then all of a sudden, Sabrina Carpenter or Lisa does something with your song, or Taylor Swift mentions you. Does your phone go crazy?
Leigh: Luckily, I have my notifications turned off, but I certainly do hear about it. The moment I get on one of the platforms, there’s like a million, “Did you see this?” It’s incredible! That was so sweet the other day getting to hear all those, I assume for the most part, young people singing every word along with her (Sabrina Carpenter). It broke my heart in all the best ways. It just was the sweetest thing. I’m really happy to see these women who are at the top of their game. A guy named Matt Maltese covered “Kiss Me” last year and had great success with it. The whole album that he did was covers, and he’s an incredible artist. So it’s not just girls, but it’s really cool to see these women who are at the top of their game in every way pay homage to our song. It’s the sweetest thing. I can’t stress how much it means to us.
Traci: Even the National Hockey League used it last year!
Leigh: Yes! That was so cool because my son played hockey all through high school. I’m always looking for any little something to give me an up with my kid. (laughing)
Traci: Obviously we love “Kiss Me,” “There She Goes,” all the things from the past, but I’ve been absorbed in the newly-released EP, “Rosemary Hill,” this week. I really love the title track, but they’re just all really good. How long had you been working on those songs?
Leigh: We started on some of them back during the pandemic because before COVID messed everybody up, we were going to put the gears in motion back. Then everybody was forced to stop all things for a while, so we worked on things remotely. When things freed up, and we hired the manager that we’re working with now, everything started going in full speed ahead.
Traci: The 25th anniversary tour kicked off last night. How was night one?
Leigh: We’re calling it an anniversary tour, but I hope that doesn’t give people the idea that we’re not going to keep touring! The show last night couldn’t have gone better. I was super nervous. I had all kinds of jittery energy, strange energy, and the crowd just reflected back something so powerful and sincere and sweet that it just shows you what a crowd can do. And also getting out there and starting to feel comfortable. But there was this energy that was so sweet, and it saved me from myself, from my own internal thoughts of, “Oh, God, they’re not going to like it.” It went great and they really loved the new material as well. I could feel some of them knew the words. It was really, really incredible.
Traci: I would imagine that it is scary to be that vulnerable as an artist; to just be like, “Here’s all my stuff from inside. Please like it.”
Leigh: Well, it is. I think getting to get up there and do it with people I really, really love and have loved for a long time being my bandmates, I don’t feel alone. I did so much solo touring and solo music, and I just feel like I got my wings back a little bit having these guys behind me. That’s literally what it feels like. I just feel like I can fly almost when I get up on stage. Yeah, it’s really sweet.
Traci: It’s Matt (Slocum, guitar), Justin (Cary, bass), and Dale (Baker, drums), right?
Leigh: Matt, Justin, Dale, and we’ve got this awesome guy from a band called The Choir that’s out with us, too – Steve Hindalong – and he’s awesome. He’s playing percussion and a little acoustic guitar, and he’s fantastic.
Traci: Back to what you said about anniversary tour and goodbye, nowadays, a “farewell tour” doesn’t even mean farewell, so don’t worry! (laughing)
Leigh: Okay, good! (laughing)
Thank you to Leigh for talking with us! OC Music News will report on Sixpence None the Richer’s Nashville, getting you excited for their SoCal tour closers: December 12th at Belly Up in San Diego; December 14th at Constellation Room in Santa Ana; and December 15th at Troubadour in West Hollywood. Grab tickets and a VIP package now!
TO FOLLOW
SID 241019 | JIMMY ALVAREZ | EDITOR
