David Nail is starting a fire today at The Lyric Oxford.
The country music sensation is gearing up to kick off his “I’m a Fire” tour here at the heart of Rebel Nation. When The Lyric’s doors open at 7:30 tonight, Nail will launch a tour featuring songs on his new album, also titled “I’m A Fire,” including top hit “Whatever She Got” as well as the emotional ballad “Kiss You Tonight.”
“My wife went to Ole Miss,” Nail said, who follows the university closely and is familiar with Oxford. “I can’t think of a better place to start things off.”
Nail said Oxford was one of the very first places he and his band played back when they were starting out. It’s been a long time since Nail has played in town, but he is excited to come back and see how things have picked up since his last show.
“Hopefully the crowd’s a little bigger,” Nail joked.
Not that Nail would have reason to think otherwise. Nail received a Grammy nomination for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2011, and over the last few years has produced major hits, including “Whatever She’s Got” which made platinum before his album was released.
“Whatever She’s Got has been huge for us,” Nail said. “This year is the busiest we’ve ever been.”
Despite having played for the majority of the year, Nail isn’t ready to slow down.
“This is kind of when we like to close out with a bang,” Nail said. “We’ve got some new things we’ve been working on set wise and production wise.”
Needless to say, this will be one concert no one is going to want to miss. It seems only fitting Nail should be kicking off his tour in Oxford, a town he says he has plenty of good memories in, when many would say his music brings back the past.
What separates Nail from many other artists is his uncanny ability to connect personally in essentially every one of his songs. His songs are touching, catchy and sung with a kind of honest vulnerability that just isn’t seen in an artist every day.
“Can I see myself singing this song in ten, fifteen, twenty years?” Nail asked himself when considering new music. “I think that subconsciously that’s always something you have in the back in your mind, so you always look for songs that you are drawn to, or that inspire you, where there is some kind of experience you can draw from.”
According to Nail, it’s looking toward the future and reminiscing on the past that give his music its character. For Nail, songs have soul attached to them; they come to life again every time he performs them.
Nail is far more than just a champion for broken hearts in his music. With songs like “Whatever She Got” and the undeniably catchy “I’m A Fire” off his new album, Nail has an unrivaled ability to produce not only relatable country music, but music which connects to a listener on different emotional levels.
“His songs are the kind of songs that are relatable,” said Taylor Cook, integrated marketing communications major and avid Nail fan. “They’re emotional.”
Nail seemed to agree his music has a little something everyone can connect to.
“I think more than anything they are songs people are drawn to and people can identify with.”
Country music fans will recognize Nail as the voice behind several noteworthy tracks such as “Let it Rain,” “Turning Home” and the instant classic “Red Light.”
But the I’m a Fire tour won’t be quite like the David Nail some may have known from the past. Though his smooth vocals and rhythm will be the same, “I’m a Fire” takes on a slightly different flavor than some of Nail’s work in the past.
“I try not to ever have a plan,” Nail said. “I think that with this record it is a lot more upbeat and a little more positive lyrically, but at the end of the day when we recorded this record those were the songs I was drawn to.”
“I’m a Fire” is successful in carrying on Nail’s tradition of providing songs that hit home, but this time with a different kind of impact; one that brings a little Southern comfort. Audience members can sit back, relax, sing along to their favorite songs and take a nice drive down memory lane.
“I hope at the end of the day I just keep recording good songs and people keep gravitating towards them,” Nail said.
