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ABOUT LEIGH BRANNON
Leigh attributes her success to being in the right place at the right time, as well as knowing and working with the right people to help guide her. Her mission is to share knowledge as much as she possibly can as others have shared with her.
Growing up in Western North Carolina, she says, "I was always involved in music events no matter where I was". While there are no professional musicians in her family, her mother ingrained the importance of the arts, and her father was heavily involved in their small NC community, making sure there were community events oriented around music for families to attend together. In the summer, there were square dances and live music on Main Street. The dominating music genres to the area were Bluegrass and Appalachian Folk music which sparked her appreciation for stories in lyrics. Her Dad started the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival in the mid-'70s, which continues to this day.
Around the house, the record player would be spinning with everything from Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, Kris Kristofferson, Roy Orbison, Burt Bacharach, and Don Williams to name a few. All good music from all walks of life. Her ears were trained well, she says.
While attending school out of state, she came back to North Carolina prior to Nashville. Her transition from North Carolina to Nashville occurred when two performers she met while involved with the Miss America pageant system asked her to work for them in Music City. The change of pace opened her eyes to the plethora of things involved in creating a song - from songwriting to recording and full production, and much more. "I took a dive and learned as many things as I could learn. I worked hard, I also took every volunteer opportunity I could. I just wanted to be where the music was".
Taking no personal credit, Leigh is extremely grateful to have been a part of the GRAMMY-winning and GRAMMY-nominated teams of Keb' Mo', G. Love, and Jontavious Willis working with legends Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' as well as, working on multiple recording projects with various artists for the past 27 years.
Leigh stresses her strongest mentor is award-winning producer Paul Worley, former VP of Sony, who taught her how to really hear a song, turning a corner with what she loved. After learning how to open her mind and ears, she says, "Oh my gosh, I really get it now."
She adds, "I've worked with a lot of great women in the industry over the years that I've admired and respected a lot. I've learned a lot of valuable things from them, including doing good work. If you do good work, present your best self every day, and devote and dedicate yourself to the people that you work with, that's the prize - that's the most important thing, and that's what you're here for."
While involved in projects related to recording and licensing, Leigh had also subsequently started dipping her toe in Artist Management in early 2000. Primarily, she works her magic by helping match artists and writers and helping develop the project. She understands that when an artist creates, that piece becomes like a child to them. Because of those sentiments, she believes it's important to sit with an artist and talk about the music they want to create, and what will help them feel good about sharing that music. Her general advice to artists is that you don't need to be working with people unless they have your best interest at heart. She asserts, "Don't work with anybody that doesn't get you."
One instance where Leigh felt a true connection to the people she was working with was while managing a tour called American Soul and Rock & Roll Choir. The tour featured an ensemble that explored the impact of the roots and the early origins of American music, leading to blues, soul, country, and rock. The American Soul and Rock & Roll Choir was a labor of love with Darrell Brown and Dan Beck. An incredible 2-hour show, with eight singers and four band members, generated a lot of love and brought many people together. The tour had a very direct impact on the direction Leigh wanted to take, which opened the doors for her around 2009 to start working with both Keb' Mo' and Travis Tritt. On the importance of roots, Leigh feels the generation that came before us are often the ones that are forgotten, but stresses that we learn from our elders. They help us align both with where we started rather than just where we're going. Knowing those origins of music only helps us further in achieving our musical goals.
Acknowledging that she has been really fortunate to make great connections in the music industry, Leigh tries to always stay true to herself. While she has her own entity, Three Sixty Spin, she structures herself to work under the artist's moniker rather than her own. On starting her own Music Management company, she comments, "You will have stumbles when you start to do your own thing. Everyone stumbles here and there. There's no perfect model…if you aren't passionate about what you do, no matter who you work with, it's not going to work… I'm passionate about everything I do, and I love the music I work with."
To date, Leigh has managed artists, recording projects, produced music, and done A&R / project management on well over 65 recording projects, 35 of them on major labels. She has placed multiple music pieces in film and tv for both Keb' Mo and Travis Tritt.
Her current artist projects include Artist - Producer collaboration projects with Producer Dave Aude on CHLSY and Nicole Markson. She continues to work with Keb' Mo', Kind of Blue Music, and Nashville Guitar player GTAR PHIL as his manager. She has several great projects on the horizon. As Nashville continues to evolve, her plan is to follow that flow for everything she has always loved to do.
Keb’ Mo’Â
G. LoveÂ
Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’Â
Jontavious Willis
Emi Meyer
Ana Popovic
Sweet Pea Atkinson
Shakura S’aida
Beth Nielsen ChapmanÂ
Travis Tritt
Leann Rimes
Radney Foster
Lee Roy Parnell
Sonya Isaacs
Ty Herndon
Taylor Hicks
Chic Streetman
Mike Hicks
Maestro Lightford
Trash Mermaids
Robby Armstrong
Ray Herndon
Chris Chickering
Jacki Stone
Beverly McClennan
EA Arts - Various Game Recordings -
  (Various Madden & The Sims 1,2,3)
Nicole Markson
Gtar Phil
LaTosha BrownÂ
Rev. Sekou & The Freedom FightersÂ
CHLSY
