ARTIST

Sixpence None The Richer

Led by the winsome singing of Leigh Nash and the crafty songwriting and guitar playing of Matt Slocum, Sixpence None The Richer make warm, sweet American pop music that's perfect for massive radio and VH1 exposure. That they labored for most of the past decade before getting such exposure goes with the territory, but the success they've had with their breakthrough hit, "Kiss Me," is reward enough for their perseverance.

Sixpence formed in the early '90s, when Nash and Slocum, who attended the same high school in New Braunfels, Texas (not far from Austin), began collaborating together. By 1992, they'd acquired a drummer, Dale Baker, and had signed with Nashville independent label R.E.X. Their debut album, 1993's The Fatherless And The Widow, garnered critical kudos, and the band began making a name for themselves touring with the likes of 10,000 Maniacs and the Smithereens.

This Beautiful Mess, their 1995 follow-up, sold over 60,000 copies, despite R.E.X.'s growing financial troubles. In an effort to keep a better handle on their dealings with the label, the band moved to Nashville; they got there just in time to see R.E.X. close its doors for good. A period of legal limbo followed, during which Sixpence was unable to record a note. After more than a year, they were finally freed from their contract and signed with an upstart indie, Squint Entertainment, for which they recorded their third, self-titled album, which featured "Kiss Me" and was released in February '98.

Sixpence's new label faced a definite challenge. The band--who are ardent Christians and who took their name from a line in a book of theological musings by C.S. Lewis--had originally been marketed as part of the contemporary Christian scene, but their music and their attitude made them an uncomfortable fit. Squint decided to make a push for the mainstream instead. They were aided by some big breaks. Slocum, who also happens to be a trained cellist, got invited to saw away on Natalie Imbruglia's mega-hit album Left Of The Middle. The band was booked on the 1998 Lilith Fair tour. And "Kiss Me" ended up on the soundtrack to the film She's All That.

At the end of 1998, nearly a year after Sixpence None The Richer was released, "Kiss Me" entered the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, not a bad feat for a band on an indie label. With radio and video airplay steadily increasing, it's quite likely that America may be singing at least one song of Sixpence for some time to come.

Written by Mac Randall