When I sat down to write about David Nail, I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought about the 36-year-old singer & songwriter. I knew that Nail had first set his sights on a career as a baseball player and had even spent time coaching college baseball. So, I headed to his Twitter feed to see if I could get a little more insight.
His “tweets” exposed a little more about the Kennett, Missouri native. His love for breakfast is apparent and he calls it, “his mistress.” His love of sports goes beyond baseball, and includes football, basketball and especially Missouri athletics. He has a passion for shoes — Jordans and any Nike’s seemed to be at the top of the list. His opinions on sportcasters, he wears on his sleeve. Politicians are something he, and most Americans, will never understand. And, he loves being a new Dad.
But, the biggest thing I learned is that David Nail is honest. His opinions in his “tweets,” come from the heart. His music is the same, filled with raw emotion and a truth in his voice that can only be explained when you see him and listen to him perform.
Nail first moved to Nashville in 1997, and quickly realized he wasn’t ready for Music City and moved back to Missouri within a year. The next time back was 2002, and he landed a recording contract eight months after he arrived. Unfortunately, his producer split from the record label and his self-titled debut album was never released, though it did produce the single, “Memphis,” which peaked at No. 52. Five years later, Nail signed with MCA Nashville. A pair of singles from that project, “Turning Home” and “Red Light” made the Top 20. The album, I’m About to Come Alive, was released in 2009.
Nail followed that success with lots of touring before entering the studio in early 2011. He then pre-released “Let It Rain” just before his second album, The Sound of a Million Dreams, which hit the stores in November. The song eventually went on to become Nail’s first number one hit.
Nail, who married his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Werne, in 2009, seemed to be living the dream. But, the singer’s real life was just as heartbreaking as some of his ballads.
“I lived probably 10 years in a really, really deep depression,” he said in an interview in 2014. “Growing up in a small town, it was one of those things that you don’t talk about and you try to sweep it under the rug.
Nail searched and found the help needed, and embraced a more positive attitude. The new outlook on life was reflected in the music for his third album, I’m a Fire.
“In the few months leading up to the record, I found an inner peace and good place that I hadn’t seen in a long, long time,” he says. “As a result of that, the music began to feel how I felt personally. It’s brighter, it’s bigger, it has more tempo. The lyrics are more positive than in records past.”
Before the arrival of, I’m a Fire, came the single “Whatever She’s Got,” which climbed to number two on the country charts in the fall of 2013.
Nail headed back to the studio last year to start working on his fourth album, titled Fighter, which is also the name of a powerful song he co-wrote with Troy Verges and Scooter Carusoe. Believe it or not, he said the tune was partially inspired by the ultimate chick flick — The Notebook.
“I’m comfortable enough in my own skin to acknowledge that The Notebook is one of my favorite movies,” Nail admits. “One of my favorite scenes is when Noah [Ryan Gosling] is telling Allie [Rachel McAdams], ‘Hey, we fight and you’re a pain in the ass 99 percent of the time, but that other one percent is what motivates me and makes me love you more.’”
The album also contains the current single, “Nights On Fire,” as well as collaborations with Vince Gill, Brothers Osborne and Sarah Buxton, who has lended her voice on several of Nail’s previous albums.
“The biggest thing I’ve taken so far out of this record is about how far this is going to take our live show — the energy of these songs,” he says. “When someone leaves my show, I want them to say, ‘Man, that was good.'”
In addition to his busy touring schedule and preparing for the album release later this year, Nail became a father to twins on December 12th, 2015. He and his wife welcomed son Lawson Brent Nail and daughter Lillian Catherine Nail. Now, he has even more motivation and material to write songs and a renewed sense of optimism onstage. And we get to know the “fatherly” side of David Nail through all of the “Tweets.”
David Nail will be performing at Thirsty Cowboy in Medina, Ohio on Saturday, March 20th. Tickets are $20 and VIP Packages are $99 and are available at www.ThirstyCowboy.com
