Back when David Nance started self-releasing records in his native Omaha over a decade ago, you got the impression that he hadn’t left his hometown much. “I tried to take a trip/So I could visit you/But when I crossed that state line I just didn’t know what to do,” he sang in “Nebraska Plains” on the brilliantly titled EP Let’s Argue. And the song’s chorus only underscored the fact that he was content to stay right where he was. “Keep your tall hills and your subway trains and I’ll keep my Nebraska plains.”
On the other hand, he wasn’t just making sonic postcards. The poetry of place that his songs embodied was leavened with healthy portions of grim observations and fuzz guitars. Even on “Nebraska Plains,” he celebrated Nebraska’s invulnerability compared to trendy cities on the coast, soon to be destroyed by natural catastrophes. And a few songs into the collection he was singing “I’m sick of these games where my ass is the prize/And I’m naked on the floor and they beat me ’til I die.”
Cut to a decade later, and it’s safe to say that Nance is considerably more well traveled, having opened for Jack White at a minor league baseball stadium in Tulsa a few years ago, and otherwise being recognized as the fine songwriter and guitarist that he is. But he’s still based in Omaha and making records in roughly the same way as ever. True, he took a detour in recording 2017’s Negative Boogie at a professional studio, but by the following year’s Peaced and Slightly Pulverized he was back to recording in a basement. And if the lo-fi approach only complemented the feedback and guitar wails of that album, 2020’s Staunch Honey proved that the same approach suited his mellower material as well, sprinkled as it was with tough guitar sounds all around. “I swear everything will be all right/But there’s no return on the merchandise!” he sings on the album opener, a stomper if there ever was one.
Ultimately, the music’s charm boils down to Nance’s unhurried deadpan, which always steers clear of forced affectation even when he’s getting a bit unhinged. As a Nebraska native myself, I appreciate the power of this dryness. It’s plainspoken, it’s down-home, but this tea ain’t sweet. The amber waves of grain are tasty, yes, but the stalks are brittle and ready for reaping. Perhaps that’s why his latest group, with whom he played at last year’s Gonerfest, is called Mowed Sound.
David Nance & Mowed Sound play Railgarten this Friday, July 28th, with the inimitable Aquarian Blood opening. 8 p.m. Tickets. At 10 p.m., Bar Keough will host an after party with DJs Zac & Emily.
