NICK NACE
WRESTLING WITH THE MYSTERY
FLOUR SACK CAPE RECORDS FSCR 008
ONE MORE SONG–BACK ON THE RADIO–FLY IN A BOTTLE–WINE AND DINE–HER FAVOURITE DIRTY JOKE–OLD RECORDS–MOONBABY–WAKE UP NEXT TO YOU–WHITE TRASH SOUTHERN BELLE–ARKANSAS TRAVELER–CLARKSDALE KATIE–GRANDPAS OLD GUITAR
Originally from Ontario, Nick Nace spent his formative years in New York, before chucking it all for an East Nashville basement apartment, sight unseen, in December of 2015. Once there, he fit in perfectly within that flourishing community of artists, singers, and composers. His latest collection of originals is entitled “Wrestling With The Mystery” for Flour Sack Cape Records. They all deal with Nick’s journey thru life, and the characters he has known and the stories only he can tell.
Leading off is his goodbye to the Big Apple, as Nashville looms on the horizon for “just One More Song.” “Back On The Radio” chronicles gettin’ older in this bidness, with our hero “decades past my heyday,” and shows full of “groupies who are all wrinkled!” Past lovers and their individual tendencies play out as does a jukebox full of “Old Records, where their music never fades,”while two lovers with eternally-roving eyes are described in “Arkansas Traveler,” as “two-timin’ diamonds” wherever they go.
We had two favorites, too. An ex-lover who is now the victim in an abusive relationship says “everything is fine,” but that “Fly In A Bottle” knows better. The set closes with the true story of “Grandpa’s Old Guitar,” his love for “The Crawdad Song,” and the regrets Nick carries by not getting to spend more time with him before his passing.
If there was a Nobel Prize for East Nashville songwriters, Nick Nace’s name would sho’ nuff be in the mix. His songs and characters are brilliantly-conceived, and, for a man “Wrestling With The Mystery,” he’s done a helluva job in getting his points across! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues And Roots Alliance.
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