Danni Leigh's latest project Divide & Conquer, her first release on Audium Records, will hit stores on November 6, 2001. This highly anticipated new album certainly has the potential to be her most successful release to date.

It's been a long, hard road for Danni Leigh since coming to Nashville in 1994. Her first record deal was with Decca, but after a corporate merger forced the closing of this recording dynasty, Danni was left in the cold. Fortunately, Danni signed a new deal with Sony's Monument division just a few months later. Believing that the record company was committed to her success, Danni went into the studio and recorded her second album, A Shot Of Whiskey And A Prayer. But, after a year of hard work, recording, touring and promoting, Monument pulled the plug after her first two releases from the album, "Honey I Do" and "I Don't Feel That Way Anymore," made a less than anticipated impact on radio programmers. "We were guaranteed it would be a big hit by several Sony staffers," says Danni. "They told me they were in it for the long haul. What was so frustrating is that we planned everything with Sony every step of the way. I can't say it was all Sony's fault. Maybe I should have stood up a little more. But with that much money on the table, it's hard to say 'No, I'm not going to do that' to a powerhouse like Sony." Monument wasn't even going to release the album, but fan demand prompted its release in February 2001 with no promotion effort whatsoever. Still, the album gained Top 10 Internet success in the U.S., Great Britian, The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.

Despite the years of disappointment, heartache and broken promises, Danni has finally been given the opportunity to make the album of her dreams. Danni signed with Audium Records in February 2001 and had completed recording by July. "This album is more me than anything I've ever done," she proclaims. "Creative freedom, integrity and individuality are not scary words at Audium." This can be proven with the names in the Audium family such as Loretta Lynn, Dale Watson, Confederate Railroad, The Kentucky Headhunters, and Charlie Daniels.

Danni had several opportunities with Divide And Conquer that she didn't get with her previous labels. First of all, she finally got to work with producer Pete Anderson, best known for his work with Dwight Yoakum. "Working with Pete was a wonderful experience," says Danni. "He cares about the country format and he cares about artists who love country music." After being denied the opportunity to work with him on A Shot Of Whiskey And A Prayer, Audium was excited with the pairing. "We are thrilled to have Danni on Audium, we want her to make 'a real Danni Leigh album' and will support her to the very end,"said Audium's CEO and President, Nick Hunter, upon announcing Danni as the newest member of the label.

Danni also had the creative freedom to record songs she wrote five and six years ago that did not fit the mold of what Decca and Monument wanted for her. Danni co-wrote "Yesterday" with Michael Lunn and Michael Noble about five years ago. "I've written a lot with Michael and Michael, and this one was created by its melody first. The lyric is significant of what I was going through at the time - knowing your past and having to crawl out of it."

"Last Train To San Antone" is admittedly one of Danni's favorites of all the songs she's ever written. She says that this is the first opportunity that she's truly had to record it. Written about six years ago, Danni confides that this is a song that "just kept falling out - I couldn't stop writing it, the verses just kept coming." This track is definitely one of the highlights of the album.

The title cut, "Divide And Conquer," was written by Jim Lauderdale who not only wrote three of the songs on this album, but lended his voice to the background vocals as well. While admitting that she was vocally challenged with this song, Danni describes it as the strength she feels about the whole project, hence becoming the album's title.

"He Used To Say That To Me" and "Sometimes" are the other two Lauderdale songs appearing on the album, bringing freshness and versatility to the table. "He Used To Say That To Me" was a song that Danni says she was able to immediately relate to. "This song is pretty typical of the way it goes for me. The song made perfect sense the first time I heard it."

"Sometimes" has a tinge of the blues to it. Leigh's voice is perfect for this type of song. Her hard-edged vocals make you feel the raw pain and heartache she's endured in her life and career.

The true highlight of the album is "House Of Pain." This is as country as it gets. This one is for the hard-core country music fan. You know from the first note that this is a true country tune. Instrumentally, the song features the steel guitar from beginning to end. Vocally, Danni shows her true country roots. Her description of the song says it all: "This is country, country. Like a George Jones song. I love the words to this song. Lyrically and melodically it's perfect. I knew it needed to be on the album."

Divide And Conquer offers something for everyone, from hard-core honky-tonk to the soothing sounds of blues/roots country. No matter what style of country music you prefer, you're sure to enjoy this latest offering from Danni Leigh. The range of musical styles demonstrated on this album is just further evidence of Leigh's versatility, resiliency and diversity. "Audium truly feels like home to me," says Danni. "It's really refreshing." Danni's fans will tell you that her music is refreshingly country and this album is no different.

Written by Sherry Anderson, Take Country Back, November 2001