Sixwire is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, United States. The group consists of

Andy Childs Andy Childs (born December 7, 1962) is an American country music singer-songwriter. In 1993, Childs released one studio album for RCA, which produced three singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. His highest charting si ...

(lead vocals, guitar), Steve Hornbeak (keyboards, vocals), John Howard (bass guitar), Steve Mandile (guitar, vocals), and Chuck Tilley (drums, percussion). Robb Houston (rhythm guitar) was a former member. The band's name references the six strings on a guitar. AllMusic ((( Sixwire > Biography )))/ref> Sixwire recorded one album for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in 2002, and charted two singles on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' country charts, including the No. 30 hit "Look at Me Now". Five years later, they placed second on the talent show ''

The Next Great American Band ''The Next Great American Band'' is a reality television talent show. The show premiered on October 19, 2007 and aired on Fox at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times Friday nights. The show was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles on Wednesda ...

'', and served as the house band on '' Can You Duet'', another talent show.

History

Before the band's formation, Andy Childs recorded for RCA Nashville from 1993 to 1994, releasing a self-titled debut album and charting three singles on the country charts. In addition, Steve Mandile co-wrote singles for Phil Vassar,

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

, and Shane McAnally, and previously played lead guitar in Pam Tillis' road band, Mystic Biscuit. Drummer Chuck Tilley has a jazz background. He graduated from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

with a degree in percussion, where he studied with noted jazz educators

Steve Sample, Sr Steve Sample Sr. (1929/30 – 22 August 2020) was a bandleader, arranger, composer and jazz educator. For more than 30 years, Sample was a professor in the Music Department of the University of Alabama, where he directed the Jazz Ensembles and taug ...

and

Ray Reach Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, named by AL.com as one of "30 Alabamians who changed jazz history." He serves as President and CEO of ...

. Following graduation, he worked in Birmingham, Alabama as a member of a jazz group led by Count Basie bassist Cleveland Eaton. Later, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he worked with Lee Greenwood and

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

. Childs had initially declined to join the band, but later reconsidered after

Brett James Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records ( ...

had also declined. Formed in 2000, the band was signed to

in 2002. Their debut single, "Look at Me Now", peaked at number 30 on the ''

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) chart. It was included on Sixwire's self-titled debut album, which peaked at 38 on the ''Billboard'' Top Country Albums chart in 2002. The album's only other single, "Way Too Deep", peaked at number 55. Also in 2002, Sixwire appeared on the track "It Goes Like This" from then-labelmate John Michael Montgomery's album ''

Pictures An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

''. Mandile co-produced ''

Nashville Star ''Nashville Star'' is an American reality television singing competition program that aired for six seasons, from 2003 to 2008. Its first five seasons aired on USA Network, while the last season aired on NBC. Its five seasons on USA made it the l ...

'' 2005 winner

Erika Jo Erika Jo Vastola (née Heriges, born November 2, 1986, in Angleton, Texas), known simply by the stage name Erika Jo, is an American country music recording artist who was declared winner of the 2005 season of the ''Nashville Star'' television pr ...

's self-titled debut album, on which Tilley also performed as a percussionist. A sixth member, keyboardist Steve Hornbeak, also joined the band's lineup. In 2007, Sixwire auditioned for the Fox Networks reality show ''

'' and finished runner-up. One year later, Sixwire served as the house band on CMT's talent show '' Can You Duet''.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Country music groups from Tennessee Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Musical groups established in 2000 Warner Records artists Musical quintets 2000 establishments in Tennessee