Photo by Josh Bradley
Graham Nash, who plays Bilheimer Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, Florida on Nov. 1 and 2, 2023.
In January, Nash—who performs at downtown Clearwater’s Bilheimer Capitol Theatre twice next month—faced the loss of David Crosby, with whom he had an often tumultuous relationship. Though the two were on the path to reconciliation at the time, there was still minimal hope that Crosby, Stills, and Nash would sing another note, with or without Neil Young.
When spring rolled around, the 81-year-old was the main backing singer on his fellow ex-Hollie—and friend for over 75 years—Allan Clarke’s new album I’ll Never Forget. “It kind of dissuaded my deep guilt feelings over having left Allan when I joined David and Stephen, and my life changed,” Nash told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay during a phone call from New York.
A month later, Nash released Now, an album that he had been fiddling with since 2020. The 13-track record is filled with lyrics about the fall of Crosby, Stills & Nash, his fairly recent marriage to New York-based visual artist Amy Grantham, and even his long-withstanding love for Buddy Holly. “I recently found out that he actually played in Manchester, which is where I came from,” he recalled while lamenting that he never got to see the rock legend live.
Nash also admitted to aiming to get the song to sound like something Holly would have performed, and sure enough, the guitar tone alone would make you think that he was playing an exact cover.
But next on Nash’s agenda is an anthology project. While there’s no solid release date yet, Crosby, Stills & Nash: Live—a compilation made up entirely of unreleased live recordings—is being partially curated by legendary rock archivist Joel Bernstein, who worked on guitars for Prince, and also wrote the foreword to Nash’s latest book, “A Life In Focus.”
“We have chosen 44 pieces of music that knock us on our asses,” Nash added. “I’m very excited about the possibilities of this album.”
Tickets to see Graham Nash play Clearwater’s Bilheimer Capitol Theatre Wednesday-Thursday, Nov. 1-2 are still available, and start at $53.50.
Read our full Q&A with Graham Nash below.
Thanks so much for doing this with me, Graham. You’re in New York, right?
I am, yes.
Cool. I saw that you visited Tea and Sympathy recently. Do you have any other favorite small businesses over there?
Oh, yeah, there's lots of them. That's why I love New York: It’s so chaotic, so wonderful, and so awful all at the same time. I love being able to hear several accents before I get my Starbucks. There are museums, art galleries and all kinds of shit going on here in New York, and I wish I could have been living here many years ago.
That's awesome. So let's jump in here. You're doing two nights in Clearwater next month. I know you don't usually make your tour schedule, but considering how messed up Florida is right now, do you feel that spending two nights here is fitting?
Yeah, because, as awful as it must feel like, particularly with DeSantis, I think people need a couple of hours of relative peace. And when they come to my concerts, that's what they'll get. They'll get someone who wants to be there. I want to be making music, and I'm not gonna do it half-assed. I'm gonna do it with the same passion. I mean, obviously, I’ve sung “Our House,” “Teach Your Children,” “Military Madness,” and “Chicago” a million times. But I want to sing them every single night for the people that may have only just heard them for the first time.
Nice. And, I don't know if this is coincidental or not, but the last few times you've been down here, your shows have fallen on some sort of anniversary. In 2016, you celebrated your 74th birthday here. Last year, you were here on the 52nd anniversary of Deja vu, and get this: Your first night here next month marks the 35th birthday of American Dream. So I just gotta know if Florida holds any significance to you.
*laughs* No, it’s just that Florida loves music, and I love to play for people. Am I worried about the gun laws? Yes. Am I worried about rights all over the place? Yes. Do I worry about DeSantis? Of course, I do. But you know what? I'm a musician, I want to play, and I'll be there.
Let's talk about your new projects a little bit. I've been listening to Now on repeat, and I love how you were both brutally honest about the world right now, and also really nostalgic. And as a young person myself, I really appreciate the message of “A Better Life.”
Thank you. It's almost an extension of my thoughts when I was writing “Teach Your Children.” As adults, we need to leave this place in a better shape than we found it. We've got to do that on behalf of our children and our grandchildren. I mean, I must remain optimistic. I know it looks shitty out there, and the world is burning up, both politically and environmentally. But I must remain hopeful because I do have children and I do have grandchildren. And so do most of the people.
I also really loved “Buddy's Back,” and how the instrumentation almost sounded like a Buddy Holly song.
Thank you for that, because I really wanted it to sound like a Buddy Holly song!
Did you ever get to see him live?
No, I never did. And I recently found out that he actually played in Manchester, which is where I came from. But I must have been on the road with the Hollies, because I would never have missed a show like that. No, I never did see Buddy Holly live, but I sure do love his music. I mean, holy shit: We were the Hollies! *chuckles*
How did you first get into Buddy anyway?
By listening to American Top 40 when I was a kid on Sunday night, from Radio Luxembourg, which was actually from Luxembourg in Europe and weather-permitting, you could hear the signal. At 9:00 on Sunday night when I was supposed to be in bed going to sleep to get up for school the next morning, I could hear—by putting my ear to my bedpost—the radio downstairs, which was directly connected to my bedpost, because it was in the same place. I would listen to the American Top 40, and that's when I got turned onto Elvis, The Everly Brothers, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Platters, Fats Domino, Little Richard…yes, the American Top 40.
That’s a sweet memory. So, including songs that didn’t make the final cut, how many songs did you end up writing for Now?
Hmm…maybe about another four.
OK. I asked because I remember you saying that there's a Hollies version of “Marrakesh Express” in a vault somewhere, and I just have to wonder how many Crosby, Stills & Nash songs or Hollies songs get locked up or thrown away, never to be heard again?
Well, because you mentioned that, I will tell you that we are working with my friend Joel Bernstein, who is an archivist and a guitar tech for Joni [Mitchell], for Neil [Young], for Prince, for [Bob] Dylan. He’s got an incredible brain, and right now, we're working together on Crosby, Stills and Nash: Live. We have chosen 44 pieces of music that knock us on our asses, and I’m very excited about the possibilities of this album.
Hot damn. So, these are like, unreleased live recordings?
Oh, yes.
Ooh, can’t wait. I won’t ask anything further about that to maintain the secrecy, but you did bring The Hollies up before, and I definitely wanted to talk about the new Allan Clarke album you contributed to, I'll Never Forget. Absolutely loved it.
Good, good. I was very proud to be able to do that, and in a way, it kind of dissuaded my deep guilt feelings over having left Allan when I joined David and Stephen, and my life changed. Of course, once I heard that sound, I knew I had to go back and leave The Hollies, leave England, and come and follow that sound, which is exactly what I did. And I’m grateful I made that choice.
Did you help to write any of the new songs on the album or did you just sing?
I just sang.
OK. See, that would be the tour of a lifetime: Nash and Clarke: The I'll Never Forget Tour.
Ah yeah, that’s funny. So, I hope that Allan is successful with his record. He did lose his voice many years ago and left the Hollies, but now he's found his voice again. And I wrote “Buddy’s Back” for Allan's album, and of course, it’s on my record also.
Right. So I only have one Crosby, Stills & Nash-related question for you: When you guys were writing songs, how did you compose the harmonies? Like, did they just come naturally, or did you sit at the piano or guitar and work them out?
Completely naturally, you know? I mean, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, and The Hollies were very decent harmony bands.
Of course.
We learned how to make records. I've been doing it for over 60 years now and I know how to write records that you can't forget if you heard it a couple of times. But when I came to join David [Crosby] and Stephen [Stills] in December of ’68, I realized that if I put better words to my melodies that I'd learned to write with The Hollies, I’d have better songs, and hopefully that's what happened.
Are there any young, current writers or singer-songwriters that inspire you?
Childish Gambino. That song “This Is America?” That’s a fantastic song, and a great video, also.
He’s great. He was in one of the “Star Wars” movies.
Is that right?
Yeah, he was Lando Calrissian in “Solo.”
A talented boy for sure.
What advice do you have to offer to younger artists like him?
I think you have to follow your heart. Your heart knows what's good, your heart knows what's bad. Follow your heart and make the correct choices in your life, and you'll be okay.
Nice. I know we’re almost out of time, so I’ve got one more for you: As a fellow photographer, I loved flipping through “A Life In Focus,” and I even heard through the grapevine that there’s a sequel in progress.
Yeah, I’m constantly photographing, and I am working on a new book, yes.
Nice. In your introduction, you mentioned how you never shoot landscapes so you can drink them in a little bit more. I completely understand that perspective, but I personally like to shoot them. Can you name off the bat some of your favorite landscapes?
I’m not sure. I don't take pictures of kittens with balls of wool, I don’t take pictures to match my couch. I just am faced constantly with surreal moments that happen in front of me, and I kind of put myself in that mood every morning. I take my camera, and I go “OK, world. I know you've got something fantastic to show me. Where is it?”
This interview has been edited for clarity.
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