Musicians + Sports: David Nail Reveals His Dream Sports Job
By Scott T. Sterling
In his heart, country singer David Nail's affection for sports runs a very close second to his love of music. On top of that, as a native of the tiny town of Kennett, Missouri, the affable singer-songwriter behind the 2011 No. 1 single "Let It Rain" and current hit "Whatever She's Got" is also deeply loyal to his home state. Which means that he's always rooting for teams that hail from back home.
"I'm from Missouri, so I'm a big University of Missouri supporter," he explained in a recent interview with Radio.com. "The [St. Louis] Cardinals and the [St. Louis] Rams, but really anything Missouri. There's nobody that's more proud to be from the state than I am. I want all the teams in Missouri to do well, so they kind of present Missouri in a good light."
Citing baseball as his personal favorite sport ("I played it for a long time, and that was the one I was best at"), the wannabe pitcher turned catcher ("I couldn't throw strikes") had a thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime experience when he was tapped to sing "God Bless America" at Busch Stadium during a most pivotal juncture in St. Louis Cardinals history.
"Game 7 of the 2011 World Series, when the Cardinals won. It was an awesome moment, obviously being a Cardinals fan and them winning the game," Nail remembered of the series where his beloved Cards vanquished the Texas Rangers. "Being a small part of the history of that year...it was the most nerve-wracking moment of my life."
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But nerve-wracking as it was, Nail also couldn't hold back his enthusiasm. "For some reason, I thought it would be cool to look over at the Cardinals dugout and give a fist-pump. It just so happened that Tony La Russa, the manager, was looking right at me and he gave me one back. With everything going on in that game, the fact that instinctively he gave me one back and that he was watching me perform was a really neat moment."
Nail still harbors some baseball diamond fantasies, including picking his perfect walk-up song if he was ever a major league player.
"Whoa, that's tough. I can't remember the exact title, but the Kanye West song that's like, 'all of the lights, all of the lights,' that one," he revealed, singing the hook to West's hit single "All of the Lights" from 2010's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. "Just because it's kind of forcing everybody to focus on what's happening right then. I think that that's obviously selfishly the whole point of a walk-up song, 'hey everybody, look at me,' and that one would be a good one."
While Nail won't likely end up on the starting roster of an MLB team anytime soon, his dream job in the world of sports is much more attainable -- and could prove a perfect fit if he ever decided to hang up the guitar.
"I'd love to be on sports talk radio," he enthused. "You're on the radio and you're in this room, you've got this microphone and you can't see your audience. You have really no clue who's listening, yet you're talking to so many of these people, and you have their ear. I love talking about sports. The fact that you can potentially wake up everyday and that would be your job is almost as good as being able to wake up every day and go sing for somebody."
Nail will be doing a lot of singing this year, with his highly anticipated third full length outing, I'm a Fire, rolling out to retailers on March 4. The album is led by the single "Whatever She's Got," which currently sits in the Top 10 on both the Billboard and Mediabase country singles charts.
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The singer will follow the release of I'm a Fire with a spring U.S. tour, which kicks off on March 21 in Medina, Ohio. While the last show is May 16 in Charlotte, N.C., the official announcement promises that there are more dates to come.
David Nail 2014 U.S. spring tour dates:
03/21 - Medina, OH @ Thirsty Cowboy’s
03/27- Minneapolis, MN @ Mill City Nights
03/29 - Springfield, IL @ Boondock’s
04/10 - Allendale, MI @ Grand Valley State University
04/12 - Traverse City, MI @ Ground Zero
04/17 - Knoxville, TN @ Cotton Eyed Joe’s
04/18 - Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
04/19 - Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre
04/30 - Baton Rouge, LA @ The Varsity
05/1 - Mobile, AL @ Soul Kitchen
05/7 - Jackson, MS @ Hal & Mal’s
05/8 - Cedar Park, TX @ Wild West
05/15 - Chattanooga, TN @ Track 29
05/16 - Charlotte, NC @ Fillmore