Nick Nash sent his music to our blog with the headline “I am a first generation college graduate from a long line of farmers. I walked away from music opportunities in Nashville. Work as a corporate lawyer now. Wanted a record to explain that to my girls.” Immediately, I was interested and wanted to hear his music and learn a bit more about his story. He’s just diving back into releasing professionally recorded music now while he works as a lawyer.
His record Fortress of Gold dropped on October 25th of this year. It’s a collection of folky bluegrass gems. The opening track “I Thought by Now” is a song about depression and emptiness. Lyrically Nick Nash speaks about having all of the outside pieces of his life, the wife, the house, the kids, that he wanted but still feeling empty inside. The lyrics read: “I guess that goes to show you can have everything and still feel like nothing.” He does question what is missing from his life in the song, and questions if it’s about a lack of God?
The next track that caught my ear is “Our Year.” It’s a bit quicker paced than “I Thought By Now” and feels a bit more upbeat as well. Musically, it is filled with gorgeous instrumentation and a catchy vocal hook that is hard to let go of. While the music feels more upbeat and fun, the vocals still have some sorrowful topics such as the uncertainty of if a relationship is going to work out or not. Parts of the song seem to hit on the feeling of hopelessness.
The last track on the record is called Tennessee Rain. It’s another heartbreak song, this time about a deceased love one that only got to be age 24. Perhaps, this story is the central theme that keeps coming back into Nick Nash’s mind and drives his songwriting abilities. Perhaps the music he releases is therapy to him and helps in his processing of these difficult feelings. The song cuts through the soul with both its the lyrical content and musical performance. My personal favorite part is the melodic slide guitar. It speaks just as loudly as the lyrics do. The song also has a gorgeous harmony by a female vocalist, adding an extra bit of flavor and soul to the song.
Fortress of Gold contains 8 songs and runs for 30 minutes. We highly suggest listening to it through. We are sure you will enjoy it as much as we did.
Nick Nash is based in Dallas, TX.
Listen to Fortress of Gold on Spotify now:
Written by Ryan Cassata