The 21-year-old David Nail had no idea what he was talking about when he wrote the breakup ballad “Why.”
But a lifetime later, 45-year-old David Nail kinda gets it.
“It was sort of like I wrote it before I lived it and then I ended up living very much these words that I wrote,” Nail said during a phone call last week to talk about his concert on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at The Maverick.
“Why” explores a turbulent relationship and the inner demons that play into the way he treats her and her decision to stay or go. He independently recorded the song with Nashville singer-songwriter Aubrie Sellers, daughter of Lee Ann Womack and songwriter Jason Sellers.
Nail originally recorded “Why” in 2002 on what was to have been his debut album with Mercury Records. The album was never released, and Nail went on to record four studio albums with MCA Nashville, landing seven songs in the Top 40, including the No. 1 hits “Let It Rain” (2011) and “Whatever She’s Got” (2013).
Nail left MCA in 2017 after a decade and went independent. He has self-released three EPs, including “Best of Me,” last year.
David Nail is going back to his roots in a way on his first self-produced album.
Over the years, Nail has toyed with the idea of revisiting “Why,” which he calls a “labor of love.”
“It sort of got to the point where if I don’t do it now it’s probably never going to happen,” he said. “It was a song that I knew initially was a really well-written song. It was the first probably few songs where I was really proud of it and I was really willing and able to perform and feel confident that it was well written and could stand on its own on stage and with other artists. It really was a confidence builder for me back then.”
With 15 years of marriage to wife Catherine under his belt, Nail said the words of that song have rung true to how his life has played out.
“It is ironic that here’s this song that foreshadows what is to come,” said Nail, the father of three young kids who admits things were rocky early in his marriage. “I’m still so proud of that song.”
Nail also is proud of the work he’s doing now on his first indie album, which he is collaborating on with Alabama-born pop/soul singer Anderson East. The pair were in East’s home studio in August, and Nail said he hopes to finish the record early next year and release it sometime next spring.
The album recalls early David Nail, songs with raw and real lyrics against the backdrop of acoustic guitars and piano.
“I think being with somebody (East) that is so unique and so different than what I was used to sort of allowed me to tap into, whether it was lyrically or melody, some sides of me that I had never gone down or had not really gone down since the first couple of albums I did for MCA,” he said. “When people hear these songs they’re going to say, ‘OK, David has gone back to the core of who he is.’ But it was very organic.”
Nail’s 21-and-older concert Tuesday at The Maverick, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road, starts at 6 p.m, with Tucson country singer Billy Shaw Jr. opening. Tickets are $20, $50 for VIP through tucsonmaverick.com.
