David Nail made two stops in New England this past weekend: Thursday at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den and Friday at the Washington County Fair in Rhode Island. I was able to check out the Thursday show and was glad that I was able to finally catch his show, having missed a chance to see him play at my college a few years back.
Nail moved to Nashville 15 years ago and had his first top ten single in 2009 with ‘Red Light.’ His career has been highlighted by what he described as “a single every other year that allows us another year.” However this seems poised to change as his last single,’Whatever She’s Got,’ hit number one on country radio last summer and his current single, ‘Kiss You Tonight,’ is also doing very well. He has a very unique musical style- definitely country but with touches of jazz and blues. Nail has a soulful voice, which you can really hear here on ‘Turning Home.’
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He opened his set at Mohegan with ‘Countin’ Cars’ off his current Album ‘I’m a Fire.’ While the song started slow, making it a unique choice for an opening song, it really built into a jam. The entire set put the focus on not just his strong vocals, but the incredible musical abilities of his band. During ‘Let it Rain,’ his keys and guitar players teamed up to belt out an awesome version of Coldplay’s ‘Fix You.’
Another song that stood out was ‘Burnin’ Bed.’ Nail introduced the song by saying it was a love song and something new for him to write, but that it was a song he really is proud of and hopes will become his next single. I agree- the song has a lot of raw passion and I would love to hear it on the radio.
Nail lost his ‘Mimmaw’ recently and was very open and emotional about it. He asked for the crowds’ forgiveness, which they gave him without hesitation, as he took a few moments to tell stories about her. He found it very fitting to be playing at a casino that night as he shared memories of going to Vegas with his grandparents.
Nail left the stage briefly and let his talented band jam for a while before closing with a rendition of his hit ‘Whatever She’s Got’ that had the whole place rocking.
If you missed Nail’s shows this weekend you can check him out with Frankie Ballard at the House of Blues on November 8th. Tickets are available here.
This was written by NECM contributing writer, Tim Farmer. You can follow him on Twitter.