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 seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, United States. The group consists of Andy Childs (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'' 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'', and served as the house band on ''

Can You Duet ''Can You Duet'' is an American reality-competition show on CMT. The show was produced by FremantleMedia, the same company that produces ''American Idol''. The show premiered on April 14, 2008, and the first season ended on June 13, 2008. Six ...

'', another talent show.

History

Before the band's formation, Andy Childs recorded for

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Current artists *Kane Brown *Andrew Jannakos *Miranda Lambert * Niko Moon (RCA/River Ho ...

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 Phillip George Vassar Jr. (born May 28, 1962) is an American country music artist. Vassar made his debut on the country music scene in the late 1990s, co-writing singles for several country artists, including Tim McGraw ("For a Little While", ...

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 Shane McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Originally a solo artist for Curb Records in 1999, McAnally charted three singles on Hot Country Songs, including the No. 31 " Are Y ...

, and previously played lead guitar in

Pam Tillis Pamela Yvonne Tillis (born July 24, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis and ex-wife of songwriter Bob DiPiero. Tillis recorded unsuccessful ...

' 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 research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

with a degree in percussion, where he studied with noted jazz educators Steve Sample, Sr 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 o ...

. Following graduation, he worked in Birmingham, Alabama as a member of a jazz group led by

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

bassist

Cleveland Eaton Cleveland Josephus Eaton II (August 31, 1939July 5, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist, producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own record company in Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. His most famous accomplish ...

. Later, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he worked with

Lee Greenwood Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He also plays the saxophone. Active since 1962, he has released more than 20 major-label albums and has charted more than 35 singles on the ''Billboa ...

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 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 '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) 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 John Michael Montgomery (born January 20, 1965) is an American country music singer. Montgomery began singing with his brother Eddie, who would later become known as one half of the duo Montgomery Gentry, before beginning his major-label solo c ...

'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'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 '' The Next Great American Band'' and finished runner-up. One year later, Sixwire served as the house band on CMT's talent show ''

''.

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