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Carleigh Nesbit’s “Your City Skies” Named January “Best Song
Of The Month”
By Dale Kawashima
Carleigh Nesbit, a promising, young Americana singer/songwriter
based in Charlottesville, VA, has won the SongwriterUniverse “Best Song Of The
Month” Contest for January, for her song “Your City Skies.” This song is
featured on her debut 9-song CD Flower To The Bee, which she released
independently last September (2008).
Carleigh Nesbit performing live.
“Your City Skies” is an uptempo, acoustic folk tune, which
has an appealing, breezy quality. This is an impressive song and arrangement,
because it demonstrates that Nesbit (who just turned 18) already has the
ability to create and perform authentic, rootsy Americana music. “Your City
Skies” also showcases Nesbit’s expressive lead & harmony vocals, plus fine
music support by Andy Thacker (mandolin), Charlie Bell (dobro), Ann Marie
Calhoun (fiddle), Stuart Gunter (drums) and Bob Bowen (bass). This recording
was expertly produced by Jeff Romano, who produced all the songs on Nesbit’s
album.
Nesbit was born and raised in Charlottesville, where she was
introduced to music by her parents and several local music teachers. She was
inspired by listening to such artists as Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris. When
she was nine she began taking guitar lessons, and when she was 13 she took
singing lessons and started to write songs. Nesbit subsequently enrolled at the
Blue Ridge Irish Music School, where she formed a trio called Pixy-led with
two friends, Fiona Balestrieri and Marie Borgman. “We still play together a
lot,” said Nesbit, who also performs live as a solo artist and as a duo with
songwriter/musician Carl Anderson.
Carleigh Nesbit
It was in 2007 that Nesbit was introduced to producer Jeff
Romano by her singing teacher, Devon Sproule, who is also a singer/songwriter.
“Jeff liked my music, and he encouraged me to write and record a full album,”
she recalled. “We started recording the album in September 2007, and it was
great working with Jeff – he’s a terrific producer and musician who plays many
instruments. I was also happy to work with several other top regional musicians
for my album.”
Nesbit discussed what inspired her to write “Your City Skies”:
“It seems that everyone strives to write love songs about people. ‘Your City
Skies’ is a love song about my hometown and surroundings – the place where I
come from.”
Currently, Nesbit is a senior in high school, and she’s
considering college choices for next fall that will allow her to continue
performing and recording. “I’ve already written enough songs for another album,
which I’ll starting working on later this year,” she said. In addition, Nesbit
will be steadily performing live shows, including a gig at the famed Bluebird
Café in Nashville, and several festival shows this summer.
Here are the Top Five Songs which were submitted for this month's contest, with the songwriter credits, plus their e-mail and website links. You can listen to the winning songs by clicking the music players below.
"Best Song Of The Month" Winner
"Your City Skies." Written and performed by Carleigh Nesbit of Charlottesville, VA.