As a child growing up in Kennett, Mo. (pop. 10,950), country music newcomer David Nail soaked up the sounds of The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Elton John, rounded with heaping helpings of Vince Gill and Glen Campbell. Those diverse influences converge in common threads of love, loss and the lifelong impact of places and faces on his impressive debut album, Im About to Come Alive, which is scheduled to be released in August.
Regardless of where you grew upcity, small town, East Coast, West Coast or whatever, theres something in this music you can relate to, says Nail, 28, whose twang-less, soulful voice soars on the wrenching heartache ballad Missouri (pronounced like misery), the gorgeous Clouds and the rousing hit-the-road anthem Again. Radio stations recently started playing the albums first single, Im About to Come Alive.
The best songs Ive ever written just kind of come to me, says Nail, the son of a former high school band director. You dont have a choice in the matterthey just more or less pour out. When people ask him how to describe his music, he doesnt have a snappy answer. But he does have an honest one. I say, Well, I just hope its . . . good.
