Sixpence None The Richer biography
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.
Biography
Origin of the band's name
Leigh Nash described the origin of the band's name on the
Late Show with David Letterman:
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 Slocum 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.
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 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. That year the song was also featured in the film She's All That. In 2001 the film Not Another Teen Movie used the song in a parody. "Kiss Me" was also played on the WB teen drama Dawson's Creek in episodes #2-06 "The Dance" and #2-18 "The Perfect Wedding", and is found on the show's first soundtrack CD, Songs from Dawson's Creek (Volume 1) and also played at the televised wedding of England's Prince Edward.
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