Jim Nail profile picture

Jim Nail

About Me

I have been writing songs for about 40 years so I guess I have a few good ones in the can. A career has eluded me, at least so far. It's not the worst fate that could befall a songwriter. But I'd like more people to hear my songs so I started this space. I live in Portland, Oregon. I am married with two grown sons. A few of my songs are covered on an album called Arcane by David West, recorded in the late 80s, still available from taxim.com.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/03/2008
Band Members: Just me. no band.
Influences: Well, first it was campfire songs and the Methodist hymnal, then an adolescent period with 50’s pop like Frankie Avalon and Annette, followed by an affinity for musical theater in high school. Then hippie music came along, Dylan, the Dead, the Airplane, the Incredible String Band. In the 70s I moved toward "pretentious" European progressive music like Yes, King Crimson, many other lesser known bands. Bruce Cockburn stole my heart because he uses music as a part of the spiritual journey. I like music that is transcendent and deep but not too new age. I like lots of things. Today’s music has blown wide open, so many genres out there, it pleases me. Laura Veirs is one of my favorite songwriters today. Many others, contact me and I’ll tell you more.
Sounds Like: An old guy with an out of tune voice banging on a piano and singing through his life story
Record Label: Unsigned

My Blog

No Roads That Do Not Bend

This is a new, lower and slower version of a song I had posted in the past. It's in memory of Kate Wolf who was a friend. I had the good fortune of being asked to play accordion on a couple of her alb...
Posted by on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:48:00 GMT

A Wheeled World Will Roll Away

I wrote this song in 1992. Brendan was 12 and Devin was 9 and it looked like my traveling days were over. Little did I know that 12 years later I would have a job that would send me flying and drivin...
Posted by on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:43:00 GMT

early light

This was one of many songs I wrote in the mid-seventies after I first discovered there is more to spirituality than just being a good Methodist. In fact, holiness is not so much a virtue as it is a pr...
Posted by on Fri, 15 May 2009 10:30:00 GMT

Love Buzz #3

Another new song on My Space. This one's just for fun.One morning I was making a pot of my favorite fair-trade coffee- "Love Buzz" by Equal Exchange. I started singing:Well, I got a love buzzI got a s...
Posted by on Wed, 06 May 2009 19:36:00 GMT

still married

For some reason my status appears as "single" when my blog is viewed. Rest assured our marriage is still alive and well, I just don't know how to change this setting. Please read my previous blog.Th...
Posted by on Sun, 26 Apr 2009 07:11:00 GMT

how (and why) i record my songs

By all indications it seems that there are some people who listen to my songs and read my blog, so I thought I would explain what I am trying to do here.I have well over 100 songs I would like to rec...
Posted by on Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:13:00 GMT

dad's seascape

The new profile picture is a watercolor painted by my father sometime in the 1950's. He worked for the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in Livermore and he would be away on long trips to the south sea is...
Posted by on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:04:00 GMT

exploring the mystery

I was listening to a recorded lecture by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and I heard her say something to this effect: as long as there is Mystery there will be artists, for that is their domain, to explore, c...
Posted by on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:36:00 GMT

scroll down please

I notice nobody is listening to the new songs. I put my settings on "randomize" but the new songs still seem to keep coming up at the bottom, with the newest completely out of the field of vision. If ...
Posted by on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:56:00 GMT

small boat sails

I've been trying to lure people to my blog where I am posting an original novel a chapter at a time. I think the link has been disabled from myspace because it is suspected to be spam which it is not....
Posted by on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:17:00 GMT