Nate Allman

Nate Allman. Who? Hes just a guy born in Texas, fortunate enough to have the kind of friends whod think to buy him a guitar for his birthday. And as the story goes for the last decade it was that gift that has allowed the gift inside to be heard.

And with that gift in full swing you could now say Nate is short for natural and Allman means broad appeal. Yes hes played shows and produced records with Braddigan of DISPATCH and Grammy Award winner Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay, Caedmons Call), But those credentials wont tell you about Nate. I love him cause hes one of the few people I know actually living his dream. And its just plain inspiring to watch someone drift through the corners chasing their dream at high speed, you just never know how things will turn out. For instance, when Nate followed his dream to write the songs of his heart he didnt know that his best material would come from outside himself, from the broken lives of some of the people hes met along the way, just taste the words of the new song June

Her heart is cold her eyes are dry, all she wants to do is have to never go home cause its a struggle to keep him away and when hes done shes left with no hope for better days As her dreams get ripped away she longs to here someone say, You are mine, if I'm by your side I will comfort you and heal the wounds hes left behind, and change your heart of stone to a heart of flesh and have your worth restored while hope is beating in your chest.

As you can hear in the words to June Nate is bearing the brokenness of her song with hope. With hope! Help Im drowning in the shallow end and need mouth to mouth HOPE! In a day when our airwaves and ipods are filled with clich.. sentiment, and the songs of angry kids mad at theirs dads cause there was no new PSP under the Christmas tree, Nate brings out the songs our better selves long to sing. His first album, Loose Pockets features songs From the Storm and Beautiful Mystery that pose a thoughtful challenge. Dig a little deeper and Arans Song has the power to bring tears to even the casual listener.
On both the Hwy 40 sessions and the Africa EP you hear Nate mature in combining his convictions with his experiences and adventures. Many of which, come from the time hes spent in Africa, where Nate lived with the contradictions of modern life, being witness to severe poverty, and the ravages of aids. Out of that experience Nate has joined with a handful of other young artists in our day who have made a commitment to do something about it. Through his organization, 540 records, Nate gives back from his work to various social justice organizations within South Africa.

For Nate like every other musician, the dream is simple, writing songs, and playing shows. But what keeps those sweet baby James tones and that wilcoxian storytelling fresh is that Nates dream is bigger then the music, and the music is more then about himself. I guess that sums up what I love most, he has the maturity to reach out of himself and find those songs already playing in our common experience of being human and he has the ability in both his recordings and even more so in his live shows to sing those songs home to hopefulness.