Singer-songwriter Nick Nace hearkens back in some ways to our favorite folk and roots singers. He tells stories that are both relatable and intriguing in a distinctively deep resonant voice, Nace is still emerging (heck, by Americana Music Association terms that could be for another five years) with Wrestling with the Mystery his third full-length effort. So, if he’s not yet part of the conversation that mentions Hayes Carll, James McMurtry, Slaid Cleaves, Rod Picott, or Justin Townes Earle, he should be and likely will be soon. Like those writers, he says plenty in just a few words. It’s evident immediately in the opening, catchy “One More Song” with these lines –“I’ve given up on love, burned your wedding gown, given up on concrete, and riding underground.” Not only is he speaking about a romantic breakup but he’s bidding farewell to New York City, the place he thought he’d live out his dreams.
Nace hails originally from Canada and came to New York seeking an acting career. Before long though, the musical muse kept tugging at him while he attended acting school and, inspired by folk singers like Dylan, he realized he could put his own words to a song. He formed a folk duo, A Brief View of the Hudson, with a friend from acting school, began working prime weekly gigs, and recorded an LP and EP. Eventually, he realized that NYC was not the best place to be in order to grow as a songwriter and he relocated to East Nashville. There he immersed himself in the community of like-minded songwriters and musicians. He’s found success touring international and winning contests at notable songwriter festivals.
Some of his stories on Wrestling with the Mystery are personal, painful, and tragic but he has a knack for transforming the dark to light as in “Fly in Bottle” where his litany of regrets are shared by many of us; although we don’t admit to them. He comments, “At the time I wrote this my ex-wife was in a fairly bad and abusive relationship and it was very painful to watch her go through something like that. It was very hard to understand. It made me think if perhaps I’d been a better partner, she wouldn’t have ever put herself in that horrible situation in the first place.” That story is captured in his chorus – “A fly in a bottle doesn’t know it’s trapped/Buzzing round in circles bumping into glass/Living at full throttle she’s bound to hurt herself/She’s a fly in a bottle & she can’t get out.” “Old Records” is a less than nostalgic look back not at his favorite music but a name dropping remembrance of past lovers and girlfriends, stated so poetically – “There’s names that I’ve forgotten/Faces dark & vague/But they’ve all left their mark/Like epitaphs upon my grave/The needle & the groove/It’s a delicate ballet/Where all of my lovers old records still play.”
There’s a series of songs about shady lovers and desperate characters on the road. The sequence of “Wake Up Nest to You,” White Trash Southern Belle“ and ”Arkansas Traveler,” remind this writer of Dave Alvin’s “Thirty Dollar Room” and “Out in California.” Nace finds irony in “Arkansas Traveler,” following numerous derogatory lines (“She’s high on Oxycodone pills uh oh/More curves than he Tennessee hills on no”) with the surprise that he’s getting married to this woman – “Now ladies and gentleman tonight is our/Tenth anniversary as a matter of fact/& we’re gonna celebrate in style/We got ourselves a Dairy Queen ice cream cake/& some gourmet microwave chicken dinners…” He begins “Arkansas Traveler” this way – “It’s hot in Texarkana as I zip up her tight black dress/She shoves lipstick in her purse & shuts the snap/The woman of my dreams a dolled up nightmare/Since I found out where she goes behind my back.”
”Clarksdale Katie,” however, is a completely different kind of tale, and the song from which the album takes its title. His chance encounter with young woman names Katie at a church service in Clarksdale, MS led to a mysterious story with a happy ending. He says, “ After the service, we were hanging out at a local watering hole and she was very worried about not hearing from this friend of hers. So, we drove over to the friend and knocked on the door, but no one answered. Later in the day, Katie disappears for some time. It turns out she has a bad feeling and went back to her friend’s place only to find her in bed half-unconscious having swallowed a bottle of pills. Somehow, she gets inside, calls an ambulance and saves her friend’s life.”
In the spirit of Guy Clark’s “Randall Knife,” Nace ends with the spare “Grandpas Old Guitar,” in a confessional way. It’s the true story of Grandpa’s old Gibson guitar that he bought for 450 after returning from WW II. Toward the end of his life, he offered to pass it on to Nace, who unfortunately never made the connection until his grandfather passed. Nace sings about regret that will forever stay with him, never having that special moment of passing it on with his grandfather. Listening to these various tales, it seems that Nace keenly observes just about everything and forgets little. Like his regret in the last tune, these songs will linger. They have staying power.
Photo by Stacie Huckeba
