By Kate Seegraves

Staff Writer

If you visit the Clark County Fair this weekend, you might find more than just cattle in the livestock barns.

It’s very possible you’ll find country singer David Nail.

The Missouri-born performer, who is currently touring to promote his album I’m About to Come Alive, has gotten quite familiar with county fairs and festivals this summer. Calling from Iowa for a recent phone interview, Nail said he spent his time prior to sound check washing a cow.

“You can’t do that playing clubs or arenas,” Nail said with a chuckle. “I always seem to find my way to a golf cart and call it my own for a day. The last place people assume you’d be is on a golf cart in the middle of a fair. You can also go out and humble yourself really quickly. You realize how few people know who you are.”

For a time in his youth, Nail himself didn’t know who he was. The son of a high school band director, he found himself split between two passions – playing baseball and making music. After falling in love with country during the genre’s 1990s heyday, however, Nail found himself drawn to the life of a musician.

“I think that baseball started becoming more and more like a job and not something I necessarily enjoyed,” he said. “Music just became more enjoyable.”

As a result, Nail turned down offers to play college ball to give Nashville a try. After a few difficulties, including leaving and returning to Music City, MCA Nashville added Nail to its roster in 2007. He released I’m About to Come Alive in August 2009. Popular singles from the album include “I’m About to Come Alive,” a cover of a Train song, “Turning Home” and “Red Light,” which earned an Academy of Country Music Award nomination for “Single of the Year.”

Nail will play these songs and more when he visits the Clark County Fair July 24. When it comes to his live shows, Nail said he likes to keep it simple and real.

“I always let the crowd dictate what I should do,” he said. “I don’t believe in scripts or always saying the same things or having moments where I talk between every song. I feel like the crowds are smarter than people give them credit for. I feed off them. We try to incorporate the crowd in some way.”

Even so, Nail’s biggest goal is to introduce newcomers to his songs.

“At the end of the day, I want the show to be about the music,” he said. “I think someone in my position still needs to sell people on the art. The best way to do that is not try and distract people away from it.”

David Nail will perform at the Clark County Fair at 8 p.m. July 24 in the Big Tent. For more information, visit www.clarkcountyfair.org.