The Strange Familiar

Leyden and guitarist Jeff Andrea, the husband and wife songwriting team behind Strange Familiar, make the kind of pop music that long careers are built on and they've already had considerable success with their simmering, heartfelt approach to music making. Two weeks after releasing, You Can't Go Back (their first recording as The Strange Familiar), ABC Family TV wanted to use their song "Courage Is…" as the promo theme on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a new show starring Molly Ringwald. "One minute, nobody knew us," says Andrea. "The next, we were in the rock Top 10 on iTunes, right next to John Mayer. It was surreal."

"We write songs about the emotions people feel," Leyden says. "It's important for us to connect with our audience. We do our best writing when we stay true to ourselves and write from the heart."