The positive energy surrounding David Nail has left him a bit concerned these days. That is understandable when you consider that Nail, whose song “Let It Rain” is the hot single off his sophomore album ‘Sound of a Million Dreams,’ realized that the hard time he endured personally fueled his songwriting.
“I think, at least for me, 95 percent of all my songs pretty much come from life experiences,” he said. “It’s always been hard for me to try to look at a lyric as fiction…[I try to] put myself in the scenarios.”
| Onstage |
| David Nail |
| When: 7 p.m. doors Wednesday |
| Where: Recher Theatre, York Road, Towson |
| Info: $15 Advance, $18 day of show (plus $1 for those under age 21); 410-982-0799, missiontix.com |
That was certainly true with “Let It Rain” that he co-wrote after watching the Zach Braff movie “The Last Kiss” about an engaged couple who face a few life-altering challenges. Inserting himself into such fiction is one way that Nail, now happily married with a thriving career, has found to keep his songwriting mojo flowing.
Chalk his creative flexibility up to his family’s influence that immersed him in a mix of influences and stylings ranging from Garth Brooks to Frank Sinatra and one of his all-time favorites Glen Campell.
“My father was a band director for 31 years and he listened to all sorts of music, including a lot of old-school Elton John. I just loved the big, lush feel of those records,” Nail said. “Glen Campbell was a huge influence on me for the same reason: the arrangements, the elaborate production, the dramatic songs. Those influences all come out in what I do.”
“A lot of the sounds that I try to emulate and use for inspiration are from a time when pop music was called that because it waspopular,” Nail said. “And who doesn’t want to have popular music?”
Certainly not critics as evidenced by the round of acclaim they’ve showered upon this album underscoring Nail’s spot-on creative instincts that slightly shifted the mood of his songs from his first to second albums.
“I’ve definitely wanted to show growth musically and lyrically,” Nail said of his latest album. “I didn’t want to do reflective songs about the dear old glory days. I wanted to put some of that behind me and go in a bigger and brighter direction. Still, I definitely think these songs are not that different (from my past work). I didn’t go too far outside the lines.”
