2 of 3

But at the same time, I'm still excited about what I'm doing, and I think it's just a matter of me burying that in the past and moving on. Maybe that's the healthy thing to do. I know that God is with me, and I'm in his will and I know he's leading me.

So, after that nice happy speech, why a title like Blue on Blue?

Nash One of my favorite songs on my new record is called "Blue," and I just thought it sounded beautiful. I don't think of it as being this super melancholy, unhappy sounding name. I guess other people might. That's their problem (laughs).

Music is sometimes a melancholy thing. I'm a big fan of old country music and that melancholic kind of feeling you get listening to George Jones and Patsy Cline. But there's so much happy stuff on the rest of the record.

You were a young teenager when you started with Sixpence, so that's almost all you've ever known. Has it been difficult making the switch to going solo?

Nash Yeah, it has been. It's a little bit tumultuous right now. I'm seeing everything through different eyes now; creatively, I don't have a filter. There's nobody else there—like Matt or other Sixpence members—speaking into situations. It's just me. But I'm loving it.

I was in Sixpence forever, because I'm 29 now and started at 15 or 14. Yeah, it's really strange. And I miss Matt, but we still see each other and talk and are on great terms. I think we're both enjoying this a lot, just enjoying the space and getting to do our own thing.

Are you confident? Or does part of you say, "Man, is this going to work?"

Nash I'm confident about the work that was put into this record. And I am so confident about this record. But before I started this project, I remember saying to everybody, "There's no way it's going to be as good or I'm going to be as proud." But I really am. So I feel very thankful for that.

Has that all come from within, or have there been people around you, including your husband Mark, who have been part of that process?

Nash I think it's come from within. A couple months ago, after listening to the record, I turned it off and said, "Mark, just so you know, no matter what happens and no matter what people say, I am really proud of this body of work." And he was like, "That's so nice to hear you say that." So I made that statement before I heard what anybody else thought.

Is Mark part of your creative process at all?

Nash Yeah, he is. I would often sing him melodies and show him lyrics to make sure, "Now, I'm not going to make an ass of myself if I show people this, right?" He's definitely my first filter.

Did he ever say, "No, that ain't working"?

Nash Very rarely, so I'm not sure if that's a good thing. He's not that harsh of a critic!

Blue on Blue is more about love and everyday life than a ton of "Jesus lyrics." This would be a logical time for you to break away from Christian music and say, "I'm going mainstream." Or are you trying to have feet in both worlds, like Sixpence did?

Nash I think it makes sense to not focus just on mainstream. But this record, if the Christian community likes it, that's fantastic, 'cause I'm a Christian. But I've never really been a big fan of segregation with music; I don't really want to play to either market. I just want the record to come out, and then whoever buys it, buys it. In my head, that makes perfect sense, but I know it's a little more complicated than that.

I don't want to completely turn my back on the Christian market. But I'm just not sure if there's anything on the new record that [Christian music fans] are going to like. It's written from a Christian perspective, and I think there's a lot of beautiful themes in there, but it's not overt. But neither was Sixpence's stuff, and over the years, we weren't really accepted until we had a hit ["Kiss Me"] in either market.

next page... |  2 of 3