David Nail embarks on headlining tour, supporting 'the best record I've ever made'

KENNETT, Mo. -- As he called in for a phone interview last week, Kennett native David Nail was fresh off a weeklong vacation that bookended a monthslong tour in which he served as supporting act.

Days before he kicked off the "Fighter" tour in support of his new album bearing the same name, Nail detailed his return to relative normalcy before the chaos of a new nationwide tour starts.

"I spent about five weeks on the road, and then another week on vacation," Nail said. "So this past week was the first time I had actually seen my house in six weeks. It's been somewhat of an adjustment to get back. I, in essence, didn't drive a car for six weeks, so kind of different to get out and drive down the street and sleep in my own bed. But I'm not complaining. It's been nice."

The return to his home in Nashville, Tennessee, had extra significance, thanks to the presence of 8-month-old twins who anxiously awaited his return.

"This latest one was a little different," he said. "Just having 8-month-old kids -- having to leave the family and stuff -- it made a bit more difficult. But like I said, you kind of know going into each year that you're going to have to do at least one. So this just kind of worked out that it was around the same time that we released the record. We had planned this vacation, so it was a long time to be away from home, but it's something you've got to do."

In detailing the process that eventually became his latest album, Nail said he started with just two songs: "Fighter" and "Home." He originally planned to record only those two songs, but he quickly found himself on the rocky road that led to his newest album.

"This town is very small from the standpoint of -- people find out you're making a record, then everybody wants to send you songs [and] everybody wants to write with you," Nail said. "So I was trying to do it very much on the down-low ... but I wasn't very successful at it."

Nail said it was only a matter of time before his record label, MCA Nashville, began encouraging him to go ahead and make a full-length album.

"The competitive side of me said, 'Well, sure, I can go and make a record now.' So I kind of embarked on that second process of finding songs and writing songs," he said. "So the record kind of took somewhat of a detour from these two very personal songs, to songs that I loved -- that I enjoyed recording -- but weren't necessarily the same vein as the other two songs.

"We finish the record very quickly; we go on the road; 'Nights on Fire' is on the radio, and then we take two and a half months off when the babies are born. I think when something that significant happens, it just kind of forces you to -- it's not a matter of choice -- it just forces you to take a break from everything that's going on. And as a result, I just completely separated myself from the record."

When Nail finally returned to the record, he found a piece of work he wasn't prepared to stand behind. Through the support of his management and the record label, Nail went back into the studio to right the ship.

"I just felt like it was all over the place," Nail said of the unreleased effort. "There were several songs that didn't necessarily fit together. I didn't feel like it told a complete story. So I kind of got the idea of possibly talking to the record label and my management team and going back and recording some more stuff."

All of that extra work appears to have paid off. Nail now is touring in support of an album he can stand behind confidently. It's a record he said is his most personal, with seven of its 11 tracks written or co-written by Nail himself.

"People asked me all the time, 'Do you wish you would have gone a little further? Do you wish you would have moved a little faster?' And I just say, had I done all of those things, I would have not gone back in the studio and made what I think is the best record I've ever made," he said.

"It's funny how fate just really kind of played a role of how this record started -- with really no intention of making a record -- and really kind of sustained itself through maybe some missteps. Whether it was because I had kids and I was in a different place in my life, or if it was because I had two and a half months off to reflect back on it -- it allowed me to look at the record in a different way. As a result, I realized that I wanted it to be different. I want it to be more personal, and I was lucky enough to have the songs to go in and record that I feel like did that."

"Fighter" features a wealth of collaborators ranging from country music's biggest names, including Brothers Osborne, Bear and Bo Rinehart of NEEDTOBREATHE and Chris Stapleton. The album also features the song "I Won't Let You Go," featuring the voice of Nashville legend Vince Gill.

"It was really an emotional experience," Nail said of working with Gill. "That specific song was recorded in one take. After we were done, I looked at my producer, Frank Lidell, and I said, 'Your next job is to get Vince to sing on this.' He said, 'Well, I think we can make that happen.' He was gracious enough to do so. It was seriously one of the most amazing moments that I've ever had.

"It's just very surreal. There are certain voices that you hear, and you know. You hear them on the radio or you hear them on a record, and you know immediately who they are. I've been fortunate enough to have two of those -- Leann Womack and Vince Gill -- sing on records. Those are two moments where I can take the record home and play it for Mom and Dad, and I didn't have to tell them who was singing on it. They knew exactly who it was."

The Fighter Tour started Wednesday in Madison, Wisconsin, before a Thursday stop in Columbia, Missouri, at The Blue Note. The tour also includes stops in Springfield, Missouri, and the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

Both venues hold a special significance to Nail.

"The Grand Ole Opry -- it's obviously one of the most historic places there is to play," Nail said. "But the Blue Note is -- I guess in a lot of ways I'm probably biased, because I'm from Missouri and I'm a huge Mizzou fan. It's being in Columbia, it's a place that as I grew up in this business seeing it on people's schedules, and just always looking forward to someday hopefully playing.

"There was a lot of ... sentimental value there. I told the guys at my booking agency from the very beginning that hopefully we'll play that place someday. If we are, maybe we're blessed to someday technically outgrow it. But I don't care, I want to play it every year for as long as I do this."

No matter where he plays, Nail says his roots in Kennett always seem to find a way to appear before him. It's that connection to home he says helps him stay sharp night after night.

"It's wild to see a town of 10,000 people have so many people that live all over the country. And you run into them in some of the most random places," he said. "But it always makes you stay on your toes and realize, 'Hey, we've got to bring it tonight, because if somebody's got dad's email or if somebody knows somebody in Kennett, they'll tell them if we stink, so we've got to bring our 'A' game tonight.'"