Lacey Mosley was born in Arlington, Texas, to a single mother of six. The family was poor, and when ends didn’t meet in one place, they’d move to another. Between moving and fights with her mother, what Lacey describes as “a warzone going home”, she began dabbling in drugs. “The first time I ever did drugs, I was ten years old. I kind of kept it a secret from people at school, and I always had a thought that it was wrong, you know…I kinda knew it was wrong. But, then, when I was thirteen, I found these other people that did drugs and I got even worse into it. It was like whatever I could do, I would do it, you know? I was trying to figure out who I was, and anything to separate me from my family, or to separate me from my situation at home, was awesome, was good to me.”. Lacey received a bass guitar at fourteen, where she began playing Green Day and Nirvana songs. At sixteen, the fighting between Mosley and her mother became so intense that she was forced to leave her Arlington home. She then moved to Gulfport, Mississippi, to live with her grandparents. While going to school at Gulfport High School, she joined a band that was searching for a bass player. She continued on to sing for the band, writing lyrics and playing guitar. Lacey decided to quit the band, due to the members not having an interest in what she had to say as well as all the negativity coming from the music. Lacey became outspoken in her atheism as her feelings of emptiness continued to grow. After living in poverty with her mother and continuing on to live more wealthy with her grandparents, she felt dissatisfied with life. ‘It’s funny, ‘cause I kind of had the two extremes - I was really poor, and then I went to live with my grandma, who was really rich. I remember thinking, ‘Is this it? Is this all life has to offer? And if it is, I’m not satisfied with it.’ And I don’t believe what the world has to offer you is enough.”. At that point, Lacey, only 16, felt like she was at the end of everything and planned to kill herself. She explains how she went through a nervous breakdown and cut off her hair. Her grandma, upset and angry, began screaming at her, begging her to come to church. Lacey admits she only attended service to stop her grandmother from yelling. Through the service, the preacher began talking about people he’d met in ministering, their stories describing Lacey’s life. After the service, Lacey still planned to kill herself, passing off what she heard as a mere coincidence. Upon leaving the church, a deacon stopped her - ”I never knew my dad, but this really did catch my attention because this man at the church didn’t know me! And the more he kept saying about pain, the more my heart broke into a million pieces. Finally when I was more desperate than I’d ever been, he asked if I wanted to pray, and I said ‘yes.’ I had my head in my hands, and he prayed for God’s peace to come over me. Jesus saved me, and it was the most awesome freedom I’ve ever known. It was then and there that God gave me the beginning of a new life.” The experience changed Lacey’s life completely. Even with her newfound faith, Lacey still struggled with her purpose in life. A short marriage ending in divorce relocated her to Temple, Texas, where she met drummer James Culpepper. James took an interest in Lacey’s songs, creating rhythms for them. They soon teamed up with guitarists Jared Hartmann and Sameer Bhattacharya, whose own band had recently broken up. Bassist Pat Seals came into the picture, and their first time playing together is what Lacey describes as “something amazing.”. There was still the matter of Lacey’s divorce, and questioning of the band known today as Flyleaf’s faith. The band had a meeting about the direction their music was going, and if any member had any other reason for the music, then the band would end on that note. The meeting brought the band closer together and Lacey soon found life to be full of purpose. Official site: www.flyleafmusic.com |
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