‘My Hero’: David Nail’s New Song Pays Tribute to Late Grandfather

Published: July 4, 2024

‘My Hero’: David Nail’s New Song Pays Tribute to Late Grandfather

By Movieguide® Contributor

Country artist David Nail says he was “honestly shocked” he was about to perform his emotional new song “If I Could Call.”

“It’s been three years since [my grandfather] has been gone,” Nail said of the song’s inspiration. “And writing the song wasn’t something that I consciously was trying to do. It was just something that sort of came out.”

The idea for the song came from Nail wondering, “If I could call my grandfather again, what would I say?”

“From there, I’d say 75% of the song fell out very effortlessly. And then it was just a matter of trying to craft it as perfect as possible without it being too much of a personal story,” he explained.

Nail performed the song live for the first time in March, saying he was “honestly shocked” he was about to do it, given the emotional nature of the song.

“It’s still hard to talk about, even now,” Nail said of his late grandfather. “He was my hero. He was the greatest man I’ve ever met in my life.”

Nail even named his son, David, after his grandfather.

“Something that we taught my son very early on is you have a very special name and you’re named after a very special man,” he said. “And so, you wear that name proudly. Every time I say my son’s name, I can’t help but think about it. It’s just one of those things. I think it just makes it that much more passionate of a feeling.”

Nail shared more about his grandfather in an Instagram post marking the release of the song.

“My Grandaddy was the rock of my family, and when he passed away, I was lucky to have three children whom I could raise on his values,” he wrote. “This song is a tribute to him as a husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.”

The artist also released a music video for “If I Could Call.”

“The best part about this video and the thing that I’m most proud of is the fact that my son was in it,” he said of the video. “I feel like it’s so important to have these moments to be able to look back on. I feel like the kids are right at that age where they kind of realize what daddy has done for a living and what he continues to do. So just to be able to have that memory is super special to me.”