Then one Bluebird regular by the name of Michael Knox with Warner Chappell Publishing challenged her to show him her songs.  The sort of woman who can’t turn down a dare – especially a career-turning one – Leigh unveiled some of her work and soon found herself a publishing deal. 

Though Leigh’s talent for song craft paid off (She co-wrote “I Want To Feel That Way Again” a Top Five single for Tracy Byrd, that stuck to the charts for some 278 weeks), she viewed this phase as yet another learning experience.  “Songwriting is a very important form of expression for me, no doubt about it,” she explains.  “But what drives me, what burns in my soul, is live entertainment.”

She continued honing her sound and her style, ultimately a demo that met with her satisfaction – and led her to her singing with Decca Records in 1998.  After many years of watching and learning, tears and prayers and good old-fashioned talent and hard work, it appeared that the singer had finally realized her dream.  But Danni’s joy was short-lived when a corporate merger forced Decca to fold.  Needless to say, the label closing came as a crushing disappointment for the singer who had only released one single from her long dreamed of album.

“We cut the album 29 Nights and we got one song out – and then the damn this closed!”  Leigh says, referring to the infamous Universal Records merger that folded label like a house of cards.  “I’m not a weak person,” she continues, “but I tell you I was desiring a beverage that day!  When everything you always wanted in life is yanked out from underneath you, it’s pretty scary.”

But Leigh wouldn’t stay down for long.  Shaking off her setback,

Leigh was soon welcomed to the Monument Records roster.  Richard Bennett and Emory Gordy, Jr. – the production team behind Steve Earle’s much-heralded Guitar town disc – came aboard to co-produce A Shot of Whiskey & A Prayer.  “Those two men have made some of the best records ever,” Leigh says.  “I feel like I have lucky charms hanging all over me.”  While it took time for Leigh to select songs (three of which she co-wrote), the recording process was lickety-split.  “The whole thing was done on what I call ‘spot-a-newity,” she says.  “When we’re in there, be sure to press that record button because we were going to get these songs right the first time.”

Get them they did.  Now that it’s done, Danni Leigh is raring to get her act on the road.  “I was born this way and I walk on stage the way I was born,” she shrugs about her high-energy, edge presence.  “I’ve always had the ability to move, was always the first one on the dance floor in high school, always the jockette – and also the hell-raiser, too.”

Danni Leigh is equal parts poet, fearless entertainer, sexy chanteuse and rebellious non-conformist.  She is an artist who infuses her music with all the passion and conviction of someone who can give no less that her all.  And that unique artistry is in force on A Shot of Whiskey & A Prayer, a refreshing sound from a singer with a talent as big as her musical dream.