Nathan Leigh
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
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NATHAN LEIGH
Keroscene Records
Tell Me Something Honey 14-song CD
What succeeds in this album is Nathan’s awareness and use of particular elements of songwriting, arrangements, and orchestration. Those three elements really gel on this disc. Upon first listen, one may simply assume we have a folkie guy doing his melancholy thing with an acoustic guitar. As soon as you might reach the edge of yawning, the intensity, for lack of a better term, increases. His voice may change to a timbre you didn’t think he could do; the band suddenly expands within the song to include a bitchin’ horn section, string section, and more. Nathan always resets each song’s style to his own specifications, meaning he has his own sound. As a storyteller who can really put his words to music (or is music to words? I can never figure that one out.), this disc is well worth repeated listenings, each one growing more colorful than the last. (Mike Loce) - The Noise
Discography
2010 - Glitch EP
2008 - Tell Me Something,
Honey
2006 - A Fine Disaster
2005 - Quicksand
2005 - Keroscene Sampler 2
2004 - Keroscene Sampler 1
Photos
Bio
Nathan Leigh has made a name for himself in the Boston music scene for his eclectic mix of folk, punk, classical, and electronica and his inventive, chaotic performances. As the lead singer of Boston indie / latin duo A Thousand Ships, and Brooklyn's synth-pop quartet Sputnik Sweetheart, Nathan has performed at some of the northeast's best venues including Copperfield's, All Asia, The Webster Underground, Club Midway, and Piano's. As a composer, Nathan's music has graced the stages of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and Boston Theatre Works.
Beginning with the Connecticut emocore trio Silent Orbit in 2002, Nathan has toured relentlessly, writing and releasing music on his own label, Keroscene Records. After the break-up of Silent Orbit, Nathan got together with flamenco guitarist and drummer Victor Pachas to form the duo A Thousand Ships in early 2004. The duo became known for their strong DIY ethic, organizing concerts, recording and releasing their own music, and even building much of their own gear. After a year of constant gigging and recording, Victor moved to Paris, putting A Thousand Ships on indefinite hiatus. Nathan immediately recorded his first full length solo record Quicksand, which he released in early 2005. In March 2005, the staff of Purevolume selected Nathan as a PurePick and awarded him a lifetime Pro membership. Quicksand was followed in early 2006 with the heavily electronic A Fine Disaster.
In 2007, Victor returned, and the duo reconstituted A Thousand Ships. At the same time, Nathan began collaborating with Obie Award-winning playwright and composer Kyle Jarrow to form the band Sputnik Sweetheart. With two full-time electric bands, Nathan put a hold on performing solo, but continued to write and record new solo material. Over nearly 2 years, Nathan accumulated over 30 tracks, and in the summer of 2008 began whittling it down to the 14 that would become Tell Me Something Honey. As a reaction to his electric bands, Nathan kept the album almost entirely acoustic, using no synthesizers, and performing all tracks live himself. Taking the standard mix of guitar, bass, and drums, and adding piano, melodica, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, harmonica, violin, bamboo flute, mandolin, and a vintage electric organ, Nathan crafts a sound that reflects his eclectic influences and love of theatrical story-telling.
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