David Nail

Forecast calls for lots of rain
By Natalie Baret/ For the Journal on Fri, Sep 16, 2011

"The difference of playing in a town where you have a Top 20 song versus a Top 40 is night and day,” country sensation David Nail said by phone, referring to his hit “Let It Rain” off his forthcoming album.

But the Kennett, Mo.-born singer and songwriter isn’t new to the game. He netted a No. 6 single with “Red Light” from his 2009 debut, “I’m About to Come Alive,” while his soulful crooning on “Turning Home” off the same album earned him a Grammy nod for Best Male Vocal Country Performance.

“It’s been more than two years now since my last record came out, so I definitely think people have reached that point where they want something new. Actually it’s the same for me, too.”

The not-yet-titled MCA Nashville release, which is in the process of being mixed and mastered, varies a bit from the last record.

“There are tunes that are rock-jam up-tempo numbers, some that are more traditional country, and others that are extremely soulful, which people have grown accustomed to hearing from me,” said Nail, who recently covered Gavin DeGraw’s “I Don’t Wanna Be” live.

He cites Stevie Wonder, Elton John, the Beatles and Glen Campbell as his top influences.

“I grew up in the tape generation, so all my albums were cassette tapes. My father listened to everything but country. I found that genre in the early 1990s by myself,” said the 32-year-old. “I think people who limit themselves to one genre of music, like someone who only eats at McDonald’s every day, it’s like ‘Are they really living?’ That’s how I feel about music. I listen to rap, rock, hardcore old folk music, Americana – I have everything imaginable on my iTunes.”

The original release date of the new album, due in November, had to be tweaked lately.

“We had a date, which fell right in the middle of the Country Music Association week, so we’re moving the release one week back or a week before the award show,” Nail said.

“You know, we’re coming up where the band and I are having a crash so we can get a little bit of some free time at home and some work done, but I’m curious and excited to see what people think of the new material.”