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NOMAD makes Clearfield debut
Thursday, August 02, 2012
By Josh Woods Staff Writer
North of Mason Dixon made its Clearfield County debut Wednesday with three performances at the David H. Litz grove stage. The Pittsburgh-based hard rock and modern country band performed a mix of covers and originals, delighting the fair's midweek crowd.
"This is our first time at the fair, and so far it's been a cool experience," said vocalist Dave August. "We do the Pennsylvania Fair Convention as a way to gain exposure at events such as this one.
"We usually go to fairs and do one long set or two short sets, but allowing us to stretch this over the course of the day is pretty neat. It allowed us to kind of do three individual performances, which is what I think they were kind of aiming at."
NOMAD has mostly toured a five-state area that includes Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio and has opened for Little Big Town, Brad Paisley and Phil Vasser. NOMAD also won a contest to play with Kenny Chesney at Heinz Field.
August and drummer Bobby Kunkel have been writing songs together since the early 90s, August said, and NOMAD has progressed as a country act over the course of seven years. Rhythm guitarist John Waclo and fiddler Luke Zacherl were the first of NOMAD's current cast to join August and Kunkel in the band, and bassist George Elliott and guitarist Jay Pfeifer came on board over the last year and a half.
"We played a lot of songs off of our new self-titled album and a few from our first album, "Born and Raised," said August.
Yesterday's sets included NOMAD's "Everyday," "Hold on Tight," "It's Too Late," "American Boy," and "Farmer's Daughter." On the more familiar side, the band played hits from Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, Eric Church, Keith Urban and Bon Jovi.
The band is off to Pittsburgh today to perform at Hard Rock Café. It has also made stops in The Poconos, Ocean City, MD and Rehoboth Beach, DE.
"If you liked what you saw today go to our website, www.northofmasondixon.com and buy our CD," said Kunkel. "We're doing this without the support of a record label and the production is all our own. Everything is written by us ... we don't have writers come in and give us material. We're always appreciative when someone checks us out and purchases the CD."
August said the band's slogan is hard rock and modern country. NOMAD works hard to fuse the two genres, he said, to produce a new blended sound. He thanked Clearfield County Fair for exposing NOMAD to a new crowd.
"The show organizers were wonderful to us," said Kunkel. "They treated us well, and we really appreciated having an air-conditioned dressing room. The organizers and the crowd made us feel right at home here."
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