Although she’s just 16 years old, local singer Leigh Mullis is already making headway in the professional music business: she’s performed a host of regional concerts and has thousands of fans on YouTube, a popular Internet video site.

Mullis, who will open for new country star Jason Aldean at Bainbridge’s Fourth of July celebration, performs a wide range of rock and country songs with her band, including several she wrote herself.

Her upcoming July 4th concert is the latest in a string of high-profile performances: earlier this year, she performed the national anthem for 8,000 people at a monster truck rally, and her band played to a crowd of about 1,000 people at a large Tallahassee, Fla., venue.

A “wonderful” student at Bainbridge High School, according to Principal Tommie Howell, Mullis is also garnering a reputation for her hard work on the concert circuit. The Leigh Mullis Band also includes Leah Elkins on bass, Steve Hacker on keyboards and guitar, Dwight Sherrod on guitar and Les Lonsdale on drums. The band recently performed four sets across five hours at a Carrabelle, Fla., venue and has played gigs around Georgia, Alabama and North Florida since forming in January.

Mullis’ previous band, Due South, was well-known by Decatur County club-goers. Her parents go to all of her concerts, and she’s guided by Hacker, who serves a dual role as her mentor and music teacher in addition to being her bandmate.

Mullis’ rich Southern accent gives flavor to her songs, but it’s her musicianship that sets her in a class of her own, according to Hacker. A singer since the age of 6, Mullis met Hacker, an instructor at Bainbridge College, when she was 12 years old, after her parents bought her a guitar for Christmas and signed her up for lessons. In addition to the guitar, she plays keyboard on some songs and is learning to play the drums and mandolin, among other instruments her family and friends have given her.

“I used to sing in church when I was younger, and started liking old country music,” Mullis recalls. “I remember watching the movie ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ when I was young, and afterwards, I knew I wanted to sing and play the guitar.”

Leigh’s experience has allowed her to be comfortable spreading out to other forms of musical performance. In March, she won a first-place medal for Girls’ Solo at the Region 1 AAAA literary competition, and, along with fellow BHS students Abby Killough and Kayla Godwin, won a first-place medal for Girl’s Trio.

On YouTube, Mullis’ videos—which feature up-close, acoustic performances by herand her bandmates—are among the most viewed in the site’s music category with almost 65,000 viewings. Her most-viewed video, a performance of the Dixie Chicks’ song “Travelin’ Soldier,” has been viewed more than 28,000 times by itself. Another YouTuber paid tribute to Mullis by setting a video of himself expertly drawing her portrait to her original song “Tears and Rain”—that video has more than 76,000 views and was at one time the most-viewed music video on the site, according to Hacker.

Mullis said she is currently working on her first music CD, which she hopes to have ready for independent release this summer. In the meantime, she’ll be finishing out the school year, playing more gigs and getting ready for the big July 4th concert. In September, The Leigh Mullis Band will be among the acts playing at the 2007 Bainbridge Bikefest, an annual event that draws thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts.

“It’s exciting, it’s great exposure for our band,” Mullis said. “We plan on going wherever we can.”

Brennan Leathers can be reached by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by telephone at (229) 246-2827, Ext. 134.