Danni Leigh Returns After 15 Year Break With New Album

Known for carving her own path in the country music industry, Danni Leigh's return with her fifth album is worth celebrating.

It’s been 15 years since Danni Leigh released an album and she’s wasting no time in her “comeback” with her new album Walkin’ on a Wire scheduled to be released June 10, 2022 via BFD/Audium Nashville.

As the co-writer of all eleven songs on Walkin’ on a Wire, Danni promises that the collection is sonically diverse and a emotionally satisfying journey through love, loss and life’s most-complicated moments.

“It was 100% up to me to decide which songs to put on this record,” Leigh says of the freedom she has in her new deal with the indie record label. “That is a little nerve racking, but I believe in all of these songs and I’m 100% happy. These are all my choices.”

During her time away from the spotlight, Danni spent time with her family and lived in Spain for five years. That time in Europe found her recruiting stellar talent to handle some of the sonic sounds on Walkin’ on a Wire, including Ukraine native Duma Faustov, who plays saxophone on “You’re Gonna Lose Him.”

“We texted to ask if he and his family were ok, and we didn’t expect to hear anything back from him,” she says, her voice quivering with emotion. “He texted right back and said, ‘I’m safe. My family is safe, however, we are in a bomb shelter.’ He played that song in the bomb shelter for people and said, ‘Just for a moment we had a peaceful moment where whoever was around me was listening and it was incredible.’ This is so not important for what is happening in his world right now, but we sent it and he was so happy that we did.”

To finish up the album, Leigh worked with her husband Mike McKenzie at their home studio in Strasburg, VA. Her family currently resides in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where she grew up and where she first dreamed of the career which has taken her and her music all around the world. “Growing up around here, I was a little rebellious. I was outspoken,” she says. “I played sports and was in the band, but always sang. I grew up in Lutheran church and sang in talent shows and at church with the choir.”

The album’s first single, “My Arms Stay Open All Night,” was written with legendary country songwriter Melba Montgomery and the song’s intro features Montgomery in a candid recoding from their co-writing session. “I wrote that song with my hero,” Leigh says, admitting she was nervous at first, but Montgomery made her feel at ease. “I had a blast and it’s probably my favorite writing session. I really appreciate the gravity of her as a country music artist and a songwriter and everything that she’s contributed to this genre. That was a special day for me and a writing session that I’ll never forget.”

While she’s been quiet the past 15 years, Danni has hardly been dormant. She’s been honing her songwriting, performing and production skills and it all comes forth on Walkin’ on a Wire. “I Learned to not go too crazy,” she says with a warm laugh. “Less is more and I think that you hear that on this record. We didn’t pile on a whole bunch of stuff.  The instruments breathe. They make poignant statements themselves. I’m not trying to over sing anything or prove a point or be anybody except myself, and that’s what this is to me. I’m real proud of it. I hope people like it.”

Danni Leigh “Walkin’ on a Wire” Tracklist and Cover Art

DANNI LEIGH 3000

  1. A Honky Tonk Song
  2. Anybody’s Baby
  3. Pain of Surrender
  4. Walking on a Wire
  5. It Could Happen to You
  6. You’re Gonna Lose Him
  7. This Time
  8. Last of the Wine
  9. Steel Rails
  10. Melba Montgomery and Danni Writing Session
  11. My Arms Stay Open Late

0 Comments