Listening to...Blue on Blue

Two years ago Leigh Nash bottomed out. It wasn't due to any of the stereotypical rock dalliances involving substance abuse or lavish spending. Instead, Nash found herself face to face with the dark underbelly of the protestant work ethic - when giving and giving doesn't equal getting what you always imagined.

Sixpence None the Richer, the band she had been a member of for nearly half of her life, thirteen years all told, was contemplating calling it quits. Nash and high school sweetheart Matt Slocum had formed the group as teenagers, touring in sedans and cramped vans, slowly building a career.

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 ten years and moved to Los Angeles.

"It was a major life change for me because I had been with Sixpence since I was fourteen. I was 27 at the time, and I didn't know what I was going to do. So, I started writing songs," says Nash.

While in L.A., Nash penned a batch of songs that would eventually comprise her first solo record, Blue on Blue, a sweetly understated collection of musings on love and motherhood due out August 15 on One Son Records, Nash's own imprint label through Nettwerk Productions.

A few months after Sixpence None the Richer parted ways, Nash welcomed her son Henry into the world, along with a new sense of creative vitality. Nash explains that her songs were not intentionally centered on any one concept, but admits her newfound maternity was a source of inspiration.

With Sixpence behind her and a two-year-old son along for the ride, Nash is back in Nashville, prepped to return to music even though she never really left. Now perhaps a bit more career-conscious and business-weary, Nash reveals that tired edge without losing her dainty charm. Because of this, Blue on Blue is not just a carefree jog through the present but a vividly felt exercise wholly informed by the past.

Check out more from Leigh Nash at:
www.leighnash.com
www.myspace.com/leighnash
www.nettwerk.com