Two years ago, siblings Nathan and Eva Leach posted a video of themselves singing a cover of “Hero” in their kitchen. Their voices are pure and their interaction sweet, and it brought a smile to about 60,000 viewers — at least in the beginning.
Fast forward two years and suddenly that clip has gone viral, skyrocketing to over 10 million views and bringing in offers from big name singing shows, including The Voice, American Idol and America’s Got Talent.
“It was super strange,” Nathan said about the sudden surge in popularity. In fact, when he first saw the huge jump in numbers he laughingly thought the internet must be broken.
It wasn’t.
The video had somehow grabbed the attention of The San Francisco Globe, which posted it on their page, and then Glenn Beck promoted the clip on his show, saying “this kid and his sister” are destined to be stars.
10,403,624 YouTube viewers (and counting) seem to agree.
A junior at the University of South Carolina, Nathan started hearing from hundreds of friends and strangers on his Facebook page.
“Just heard you and Eva, singing in the kitchen. Lovely. Thank you,” one person wrote just last week.
It was all very cool and flattering, Nathan said. His music page on YouTube also saw a jump in traffic, with people checking out other videos he’d posted with his family and friends. But none of them get the views that he and Eva do. A recent cover they did of “Fix You” isn’t too far out from 1 million views.
Nathan, 20, said Eva’s voice complements his really well, and he thinks people enjoy seeing siblings having fun doing something they love.
For now, that’s enough for them.
At 15, Eva recently graduated from Christ Our King-Stella Maris School in Mount Pleasant and is now in high school. She said the attention was a blessing, but also a bit scary.
“Singing with my brothers is what I really love, so even if nothing comes of it, all of this was a great experience,” she said.
“It would have been cool,” Nathan said of all the offers from TV shows and music producers, “but it was such a big time commitment.”
A typical contract, he explained, required them to be available at a moment’s notice for a period of at least six months. And it was a lot of attention, all at once.
Mandy Bryant, their mom, said being “discovered” was great, but also became a little unnerving.
“They’re all very humble,” she said of Nathan, Eva, and older brother Benjamin, who teaches at Summerville Catholic and appears in various videos. “They don’t want that level of attention.”
Ideally, Nathan and Eva agree that they’d like to start smaller, with performances around South Carolina.
“I’d like to eventually get a producer to help us make an album,” he said.
And if Ellen or Jimmy Fallon call, Bryant said they will be there! Not for the recognition, but because they are such huge fans.
In the meantime, they’ll keep writing and making music for the internet world.
To watch “Hero” and other videos, visit http://www.youtube.com/nathanleachmusic.
