Leaving his native New England in the late 90's, Leigh headed west with a tape in his pocket to join the rich singer-songwriter tapestry of Portland, OR. Soon after arriving, he released a split single with Massachusetts-based jazz-folkster Erin McKeown, produced by Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, Cat Power). Crane later helped craft Buttered For Her Pleasure, an album from Marble's witty hip-hop project, the Buttery Lords, co-produced by Marble at his own subterranean Fishboy Studios.
Leigh's debut CD Peep was also forged at Fishboy. After months of painstaking production, Jeff Stuart Saltzman (Sleater-Kinney, Dolorean) stepped in to mix the album, sharpening the edges and throwing handfuls of dirt in just the right places. Peep was then shipped down to New Orleans for a masterful mastering by John Fischbach (Stevie Wonder, Circle Jerks).
For Leigh's second CD, Red Tornado, he worked both at Portland studio The Magic Closet and Fishboy. While Peep had been a largely solo affair in the arrangement and recording stages, Red Tornado saw a more collaborative and sonically adventurous approach. With a drummer in tow, and bringing in a multi-instrumentalist who could play organ, accordion, and piano, Marble got what he was looking for, "a whole new dimension to the sound of my songs." With low, swaggering guitar riffs, primal drum parts, and a strata of harmonically rich keyboard, Leigh's lyrics and narrative vision had found a sturdy home.
