Exclusive Q and A: David Nail Talks About '1979,' Adele, and Life without Romantic Misery

posted in: Exclusive Interviews • Music News

It seems that no sooner did David Nail finish his tours with Keith Urban and Gavin DeGraw than he launched his own tour this fall. But the 2011 GRAMMY Award nominee is reveling in playing some smaller venues for the rest of the year.

Perhaps that’s because the music on his latest project, the three-song EP 1979, is so emotional, that it almost begs to be played in more intimate settings. As fans know, the songs on the recording are acoustic versions of his songs “The Sound Of A Million Dreams,” “Half Mile Hill,” and a cover of Adele‘s “Someone Like You,” which set off a Twitter storm when it was first released.

Nail took a bit of time out to talk about his latest recording and just why it speaks to his heart.

OS: I know the last time we spoke, we talked extensively about how the Zach Braff movie The Last Kiss inspired you to write the song “Let It Rain.” That’s the same kind of emotional song, in a way, that you have on your new record 1979. I’m wondering why we don’t hear more songs of that nature in country music these days?

DN: In country music, there used to be so many cheatin’ songs. When the label heard “Let It Rain,” they said “I don’t know if anybody wants to hear that.” I said “If  you’re referring to it being a cheating song, isn’t that how country music was founded?” Unfortunately, in society these days, cheating is far too common an act. Not that that is a reason to write a song, but let’s just try to paint a picture of a guy that recognizes his mistake. So that’s what we did.

OS: So let’s talk about 1979 and how you got the idea for a three-song EP.

DN: You know, it really started out very organically this past December. A buddy of mine I play with was watching a video of this kid who did his own take on “Joy to the World.” This guy, who formerly played guitar for me, was playing guitar on it. It was literally just this guy playing guitar and this guy singing “Joy to the World.” It was done in a kind of a homemade home studio, really raw but really neat and cool. I just sat there and watched it and thought this would be really cool to do with just some random songs. Not really with any hope or intention of doing anything except for YouTube and maybe some stuff on the website.

So when we sat down to do it, we picked out a dressing room in the backstage of the Grand Ole Opry. We originally picked just a few songs and we kind of moved so quickly that when it came time to leave, one of the guys said “Do you have any covers, just to finish it up?” My piano player and I had begun experimenting with doing that Adele song. So then it was a couple months later. I had gone on the road and to be honest forgot about it. One day my manager called and said we are going to start staggering these on the web. Is there any order you want them? And I told him I hadn’t heard these in forever. One morning I got up and I saw all these people talking about the cover I did. And I called my manager and asked how they got out. He said that this was the day they put them on my website and YouTube.

OS: What was your feeling about having that Adele cover out like that?

DN: A little bit of paranoia. But that kind of caused some conversation like should we explore releasing these digitally? We talked about it and the people at iTunes have been fabulous to work with. The cover photo of the record is one I’ve gone back and forth with. When I saw that picture for the first time, I immediately thought of old 1968, 1972 ranch style homes in Hollywood. That made me think of all of the Elton John, Glen Campbell influences from that time. So when they asked what I wanted to call it, I just said 1979, which was the year I was born. Sounded cool at the time and then realized I just confessed on how old I was!

OS: Tell me more about the paranoia about the Adele cover.

DN: At first I thought, “Hey, am I opening myself up to some people saying ‘What the hell is that guy thinking?”’ But the song just really spoke to me. I’ve said this 100 times now. I was very unaware of the whole Adele thing. That’s my own ignorance. But I’m a huge sports fan so I’m very unaware of the whole Top 40 thing, even in country music but especially in pop and rock and rap music. So she probably sold 4 to 5 million records before I heard her. I probably heard her songs but I didn’t put them together with her name.

OS: When did you first put it all together?

DN: One night I went to dinner with my wife, and my wife unfortunately isn’t as big a fan of sports talk radio as I am, so I’m forced to listen to whatever she is listening to. The song came on the radio and it was one of those moments. I think when you’re in this business you get a little jaded and so to just be floored by someone’s performance is something that’s few and far between. I remember the song coming and going and awakening from this trance from how powerful the vocal was. And I immediately became such a huge fan of all her stuff. I think that it reinspired me.

I am by no means comparing myself to her. I think she’s as phenomenal a singer as I’ve ever heard in my life. I am just such a huge fan and really respect her art. But at the same time the number one priority to me as an artist is first of all, let me find a song that not only moves me in that way but a song that challenges me vocally.

And I don’t mean “Let me show the world how great I can sing,” but a song that inspires me to give the message and move somebody the way that song moved me. So it was kind of a selfish challenge to myself. I thought, technically, is this a song I can sing? But also, it was very easy because I love the song.

OS: You tend to lose yourself in songs, which I admire.

DN: Some people do complain that I close my eyes too much when I perform. But I’m closing my eyes because I want to sing as best I can.

OS: How did you get the other two songs on your recording? Forgive me for not knowing this, but did you write or co-write them?

DN: No, I didn’t write them. Both songs came to me when I was in L.A. It was the first time I had ever headlined a show in L.A.and it was such a monumental moment for me. Here I am, a small town kid from Missouri and I just sold out this small club in L.A. So I had gone out on this particular night and I remember being very melancholy. It was like when you’re trying to force a good time on yourself. I remember coming back to the bus and I looked at the phone and I had two messages, both from my producer. It was very odd for me to get messages from him, at 2 a.m. ET. They were MP3s and they were those songs. They are both reflective songs in different ways and they were perfect.

OS: That’s great. I remember when you were just married, saying you hoped you could still record reflective songs as you did when you were in a miserable place romantically!

DN: That’s true. Most of my songs have come from life experiences and most of those when I was miserable. But now I can listen to some of these songs and think of those times. I told my wife not to be mad if she asks me about songs and I tell her [they remind me of] old mistakes and relationships. At the end of the day, I’m still a story teller.

Find out more about David Nail on his official website.