David Nail photo by Andrew Southam, courtesy of UMG Nashville.

"Turning Home", co-written by and for Kenny Chesney, has that same soulful emotion and drew Nail’s attention as a demo. "When I first heard it, it was a lot of what I was feeling at the time. I just kept listening to it over and over. I felt like I had always been searching for a song I could really sing, put some emotion, pain and hurt into, and then here was this song," he said. The result is a perfect match between singer and song, with that same church-meets-honky-tonk piano on the side, and vocals reminiscent of another one of Nail’s big influences, Vince Gill.

Nail wrote five of the eleven I’m About To Come Alive tracks, including "Missouri". "I was in the middle of a two-year bout with depression," said Nail. "It’s without a doubt the most honest and personal song I’ve written. I’d been in a relationship for a year or so and could sense something was wrong with me. It was more or less me crying out, pleading for her to leave me because I didn’t have the courage to do it myself." Along with Scooter Carusoe ("Anything But Mine"), Nail also wrote "Clouds", which he explains is about one of his most recent misses at romance. "The best songs I’ve ever written just kind of come to me. You don’t have a choice in the matter, they just more or less pour out. Both ‘Missouri’ and ‘Clouds’ were like that."

From the first listen, Nail realized an affinity for single "Red Light" and the catchy "Summer Job Days", co-written by Rascal Flatt’s Gary LeVox, both of which he was drawn to in a way all his own. "’Red Light’ shows a different perspective of a break up," he says. "It’s not your typical situation since it describes a beautiful day and everything seeming to be perfect, but that’s what makes it unique."

"The first time I heard ‘Summer Job Days’, I just knew that I had to cut it. Growing up I never went on a lot of vacations. I was actually 21 before I saw the ocean for the first time. There were plenty of times I wanted to go on spring break with friends but didn’t get to. This song expressed what I always imagined it would’ve been like had I got to experience it."

With all that emotion going into his songs, he admits he’s a guy who’s always looking for the happy ending. "This is a confession – I’m a man of many extremes, whether working or playing," he says. "I’m a songwriter, so I’m a sensitive guy. I long for the storybook life."

And it’s produced a lot of good material. "I think the really great singers and writers are able to dig a little deeper and find that other level of emotion," Nail says. "And I think that’s what makes them better than the rest. I always pride myself on trying to find that place with every song."

And that he does with good friend and singer Miranda Lambert for "Strangers On A Train". "The imagery of this song is so vivid. You can picture what it would look and feel like as a video."

"There are also songs that help you through life," Nail admits. Title track "I’m About To Come Alive" carried him thru times where confidence was lacking. "When I first discovered this song it applied to my personal life. The further I got into making this album, it began to apply to my professional life."

And it’s that moment of raw emotional connection that Nail hopes to pass on to listeners. "I’m more or less just trying to join the fray of good music," he says. "People ask me all the time how I’d describe my music and I say ‘Well, I hope it’s good.’ Hopefully people will just enjoy it for being good music and take from it whatever it makes them feel."

Hard knocks and heartache, good times and bad, small towns and big cities – it’s all in his music. "They’re all aspects of life," he says. "I’m still growing as both a person and artist, and will hopefully continue getting better in regards to both."