In House With Firehorse: Earning Prince's Praise and Singing for Kay Jewelers

I first met Leah Siegel, the Brooklyn-based mastermind behind Firehorse, on an RV, of all places. It was during SXSW, and we happened to both be on RVIP, a traveling karaoke lounge, just days before we were scheduled to meet for an interview over brunch. After we ended up hanging out again the following night, we decided to scrap the interview and regroup in New York once we recovered from that week in Austin, which involved Leah losing her voice at one point and me nearly suffering the same -- though not nearly as important, career-wise -- fate.

Thus, Leah visited Spinner's office earlier in April, bringing with her a guitar that was given to her by a stranger when she was busking in Boston, exploring a music career after deciding to not to pursue creative writing. Before performing the classic "Somewhere Along the Way" for us, she chatted about her multi-faceted career in her insightful, funny and honest way, the latter characteristic she says she gets from her dad, a journalist for NPR. (Also, for the record, the shirt she's wearing in the above picture says "Pluto. Never Forget.")

Even if you haven't heard the names Firehorse or Leah Siegel, chances are you've heard her sing. When she's not working on her own music, the eclectic artist helps make ends meet by working on commercials, some of which seemingly play every five minutes.

"I'm the Kay Jewelers girl. [Sings] 'Every kiss begins with Kay.' Go sports fans, because they run the hell of it on those stations. I had a Super Bowl commercial, too, the 'Mean Joe Green' Downy remake," Siegel tells Spinner. "I've never depended on the industry for money. I've always depended on myself. I started singing commercials about five years ago. It's great to never feel desperate."


While some artists might scoff at the notion of recording commercials, Siegel had no qualms about it, thanks to the increasing difficulty of making it financially as a musician.

"It was an easy decision for me to make when I was coming up in New York," she says. "My friends would go out on these meaningless tours, play to empty rooms, like, 'We just did 50 shows!' How many people saw you play? '50 People!' Wow, what a f---ing waste of time. A waste of time is a waste of money. You could've been working on something."

And Siegel has been busy. After releasing a few records as Leah Siegel that had more of a coffeehouse singer-songwriter vibe and didn't really make a splash, she decided to change directions. Thus, Firehorse was born, with the name coming from the Chinese zodiac sign that, as her bio reveals, imbued "independence, assertiveness and a free-spirit" quality into any woman born under it. The freedom of recording under the moniker led to her stunning 2011 album And So They Ran Faster, a cohesive amalgam of soul, pop, electronica and many other styles.

"I was doing so many things, using so many different voices: Hip-hop, r&b, soul, Julie Andrews sound-alikes," Siegel says of her transition. "It all was important to me, and I thought, 'Why shouldn't I be able to use all of those identities?' I was tired of being a fractured person. I still wanted to make something cohesive, that made sense to me, but I also didn't want to be one-note, because nobody's life is."

In House With Firehorse
As for the name change, Siegel has a blunt reason for abandoning her given name: "Who the f--- knew who I was? If I really was going to do something different, I needed to release that. It's very difficult to be noticed as a female singer-songwriter, and I never felt like a female singer-songwriter. Firehorse reminds me that I should be able to do whatever I want. I'm beholden to no one."

Outside of Firehorse, Siegel is a member of the Citizens Band, a politically themed cabaret show that has included Zooey Deschanel, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Karen Elson, Zoe Kravitz, the Cardigans' Nina Persson, Rain Phoenix and many more. Siegel's part consisted of her singing Doris Day's "The Party's Over," and her performance earned her the praise of one legendary artist -- Prince. After one show, Siegel found herself face to face with the Purple One, a once-in-a-lifetime encounter that was equal parts mind-blowing, hilarious and uncomfortable.

"We go to the post-show party, and all of a sudden, you feel a sort of perimeter lockdown. Prince comes in with the two biggest dudes I've ever seen in my life and sits on the couch," she says. "He's totally a hero of mine. I believe he was sent here from another planet. I think he's alien, not the same species as us. That's why his basketball skills are so incredible, and he's like 5-feet tall.

"I see Karen and Jack [White, Elson's ex-husband], who are rock royalty and supermodel, on one knee. Prince is tiny and Karen is model-sized [height], so is Jack. I thought that was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Karen comes over and says, 'I was just talking to Prince, and he said he loved your performance the best out of all of ours.' Basically, he was proselytizing all of us to be Jehovah's Witness and not be so political. Then, Zoe's like, 'He's only talking about you. You gotta come over here right now.' [Then] Prince gets off the couch for the first time, and we meet in the middle of the room."

After an awkward hello and a "weak" hug, Prince gave Leah his review of the show: "He's like, 'Listen, I just want you to know that when you opened your mouth tonight, the whole theater just stopped moving. That's what I see when I look for a brilliant performer.' I was like, 'Thanks, Prince. Wow. Well, you're a real hero of mine, so thanks so much.' He was really modest and bashful.

"Then I called my parents. My mom tells me years later, 'That's when we decided we could probably spend the money we reserved for your dental school education.'"