Sixpence None The Richer consists of Dale Baker (drums, percussion), Justin Cary (bass, bass guitar), Leigh Nash (vocalist), Matt Slocum (song writer, cello, guitar, and various other instruments), Sean Kelly (guitar).
Sixpence None the Richer was a rock band with roots in New Braunfels, Texas, eventually settling in Nashville, Tennessee, named after a passage in C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity.
Guitarist/songwriter Matt Slocum met vocalist Leigh Bingham Nash at a church retreat in the early 1990s. They recorded a demo (which now circulates as "The Original Demos") and eventually an album, "The Fatherless and the Widow," for R.E.X. Records in 1993. The record featured Chris Dodds (of Slocum's band Love Coma) on drums. Shortly after the release of the album, Slocum left Love Coma to pursue Sixpence full time. The band added Tess Wiley (guitar) J.J. Plasencio (bass) and Dale Baker (drums) for 1995's "This Beautiful Mess." Both albums were produced by Armand John Petri.
In 1997, the group signed to Steve Taylor's Squint Entertainment and released a self-titled album, which slowly began garnering attention from a wider audience. In 1999, " Kiss Me" was released as a single, propelling Sixpence into the national pop spotlight. The Grammy-nominated song became the top airplay song in over 10 countries including Canada, the UK, Japan (later, the band re-recorded "Kiss Me" with Japanese lyrics), Australia, and Israel and was also featured in a number of motion pictures ( She's All That) and TV Shows ( Dawson's Creek, Saturday Night Live, MTV's The Real World, The Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives and others). One version of the video for the song became VH1's number-one video for the entire month of May. In June of 1999, "Kiss Me" was featured during the BBC's worldwide broadcast of Prince Edward's wedding ceremonies, at the request of Britain's royal family. "Kiss Me" was also used in the 2001's Not Another Teen Movie during a scene that parodied one from 1999's She's All That, in which the song was prominently featured.
