forgotten songs & a silver dollar

Nath’s earliest memories of music date back to the blurry days of toddler-hood, when he’d amuse himself during nap-time by making up long, convoluted narrative songs about little boys and girls, cats and dogs, and who knows what else. Thankfully, none of these songs has survived. If any had, it might sound something like an expanded, wandering version of “The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake.” (Not familiar with that one? Just ask John Fabke to play it sometime on WORT—or better yet, in person.)

Nath's first solo performance came when he was five years old. At a gathering for Finnish-American families in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, he sang a decidedly un-hip song in a talent show. Another young boy shook his head, took the stage, and proceeded to squeak out a Frank Sinatra song. Hip or square, Nath got a circa 1890s silver dollar for his efforts. (So did the Sinatra wannabe.)

a Goya, a Gibson

Fast-forward to R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, NC. While the truly talented folks (say, Peter Holsapple and other dB's) were already gigging at Rittenhouse Square by this point, Nath had just begun clamoring for a guitar of his own. As a graduation present, he finally got it: a Goya CG-10 classical. Three years later, he bought an old Gibson LG-1 steel-string for $50 and repaired and modified it himself, basically turning it into an LG-2. He started writing songs in earnest, and spent many an evening with friends, playing tunes and talking music and songwriting well past midnight.

college, day jobs and music

While he attended UNC-Greensboro, Nath played the college coffeehouses, performing both covers and originals, usually as a part of duos; Trey Caldwell, Elizabeth Dumbell, and David Grogan were his usual accomplices, and he and Elizabeth once opened for Tom Chapin when he played on campus. Nath was fortunate to see Townes Van Zandt twice during this period, and another four or five times after that.

Along the way, Nath earned a BA in English. A few years later, after earning an MFA in Creative Writing at UNC-Greensboro, Nath took a job teaching writing and literature at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. But it slowly occurred to him that there’s even less money in poetry than there is in songwriting and performing, so he started playing gigs again.

Some Kind of Sign

A small whirlwind of events spun Nath back north in 1996, this time to the upper Midwest. He drove to Wisconsin to be with Marnie Bullock, and they married the next spring. Nath worked odd jobs while writing new songs and playing here and there, and eventually he and Marnie moved to Spring Green, home of American Players Theatre and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin®. Nath recorded his first CD, Just Where We Are, in 2002, and he and Marnie collaborated on a commissioned work, Some Kind of Sign, in 2003. They premiered the work at the Rural Arts Forum that October, recorded it that winter, and have since performed Some Kind of Sign throughout Wisconsin—and as far away as Florence, SC.

here and now

Nath continues to play in various venues and at special events across southern Wisconsin. The area's proven to be a good place for songwriting, performing, recording, and life in general.

And while Nath has long forgotten those songs he sang himself to sleep with way back when, he and Marnie suspect that it won't be long before their little boy will be concocting story-songs of his own.