David Nail

Country artists savor their first nominations
by Cindy Watts

    Kimberly Perry was rendered speechless, which she says never happens. David Nail dropped to his knees and cried. Chris Young started screaming. Receiving a Grammy nomination for the first time can do that to people. Those three up-and-coming country artists were joined in that distinction by eight other country or bluegrass acts and songwriters: Dailey & Vincent, The Infamous Stringdusters and Punch Brothers, along with songwriters Jessie Jo Dillon, Allen Shamblin, Rivers Rutherford, and Sam and Annie Tate. (Members of Dailey & Vincent and Punch Brothers have been nominated for Grammy singularly but not as a group.)

Here’s how five of the first-timers view the Grammy attention.

David Nail
Best male country performance
    He’s nominated for his top 20 single “Turning Home,” which is a bit unexpected because it wasn’t a runaway hit. And when he heard the news, he was already involved in another high-pitched situation.  “(My wife was) upset about something and we had gotten in bed,” he says. I had rolled over and grabbed my phone to make sure I didn’t have any e-mails…she despises when I’m on the phone in the bed.” 
    Then his phone vibrated, and it was his manager. He was screaming. That’s when things get hazy. “I just remember pacing from the living room to the bedroom back and forth, and I must have been saying something because I remember my wife saying, “If he is joking, that’s just evil.’” He told his wife, “Babe, people like what I do.”