Graham Nash: Living Right Now 

Graham Nash is, without a doubt, one of the most successful rock musicians of all time. As a founding member of legendary bands the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash, he’s one of the very few artists who have twice been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a double inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, as a member of CSN, and as a solo artist. For his contributions to music, Queen Elizabeth II made Nash an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). By any measure, he has had an astonishing career.

He’s not resting on his previous successes, however, as his seventh solo album, Now, is scheduled to be released on May 19. The title refers to his determination to focus on the positives in his current life. “I’m 81 years old, and I feel incredibly healthy,” he says. “I feel as if I might live to 100.”

It’s been seven years since Nash’s last album, but he knew it was finally time to do another one “because I had a dozen songs. When you have a bunch of songs in your head, you’ve got to get them out there.”

Though Nash has long been known for writing songs that focus on broad socio-political matters, this time a large share of inspiration came from his own private life. “I think this is probably one of my most personal albums. There’s four or five songs about my love for my wife, Amy,” Nash says, referring to artist Amy Grantham, whom he married in April 2019. “The opening line of the album is, I used to think that I would never love again.”

This isn’t to say that Nash is completely turning away from writing about larger issues, though. Songs such as “Stars & Stripes,” “Stand Up,” and especially the anti-MAGA “Golden Idols,” show that he is as opinionated and outspoken about current events as ever.

“I think that every artist has a duty to represent the times in which they live, and that’s what I’m doing,” Nash says. “So there are songs on the album where I’m in love, and songs on the album where I’m absolutely pissed off with what’s going on here [in America] politically. I know that no one has to agree with me, but at least I get to speak my mind.”

Nash, who grew up near Manchester, England, knew from an early age that being a professional musician was the way he wanted to express himself. “I had all this stuff inside me and I had to get it out. So the way I get it out is by writing music, because of the way it made me feel when I played it.”

He says he really knew he was on the right track as a songwriter when, in 1963, he wrote the song “Whole World Over” for his first band, the Hollies. “I began to realize that I had a certain ability to write melodies, and my words were true.”

Despite earning international fame with the Hollies, Nash found himself aspiring to something with more depth. “I think they had 15 Top 10 records when I was with them,” he says of that band, “but they were basically ‘moon / June / screw me in the back of the car’ kind of lyrics.”

Nash finally decided to part ways with the Hollies after meeting David Crosby and Stephen Stills, with whom he co-founded CSN. He still vividly recalls their initial encounter in Los Angeles when he was visiting his then-girlfriend, famed folk singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell: “I had come from London to be with Joni for a few days and didn’t like the fact that there were other people there, but it was David and Stephen. [Stills’ previous band] Buffalo Springfield had broken up and The Byrds had thrown David out, and David and Stephen were trying to get kind of like an Everly Brothers act together.

“They played this song called ‘You Don’t Have to Cry,’ and I said, ‘Holy shit, that’s a great song. Play it again,’” Nash continues. “They looked at each other and they played it again. When they got to the end of the second time, I said, ‘OK, I’ve learned my part. I know how Stephen is breathing. I know what David’s body language is when he’s starting a phrase or ending a phrase.’ And when they played it a third time, I added my harmony. In the first minute, we realized, ‘This is something very, very different.’ And Joni Mitchell was the only witness.” 

Crosby, Stills and Nash went on to win the 1969 Grammy for Best New Artist. When Neil Young joined them, the band expanded into Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and they would become one of the most influential folk-rock acts of all time.

Working with his bandmates and Mitchell had a profound effect on Nash’s songwriting: “I was watching what David and Stephen and Joni and Neil Young had been writing, [and] I realized that if I put better words to my melodies, I would have better songs, and that’s what happened,” he says. He went on to single-handedly write some of the band’s best-known tracks, such as “Marrakesh Express” and “Our House.” (The band also had a hit with “Teach Your Children,” which Nash had initially written toward the end of his time in the Hollies.)

When the band went on hiatus in the early ’70s, Nash began his successful solo career with his 1971 debut album, Songs for Beginners, which reached RIAA gold sales status and charted in several countries.

He has simple guidance for songwriters who aspire to a legendary career like his: “If I was asked for my advice, I would say, ‘Follow your heart.’ Your heart knows what’s good. Your heart knows what’s bad. You have to make the correct choice.”

Nash also advises songwriters to make sure that their work is accurate. “If I see something on the news I have to write about, then I investigate all the facts behind what I’m doing because words are very important,” he says.

He cites the song “Cathedral,” which he wrote for Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s 1977 album CSN, as an example of this careful approach: “I’m not a fan of organized religion myself, but I do recognize the fact that it’s very important in people’s lives, and so every word that you are talking has to be the correct word. That’s why it took me almost four years to knock [that song] into shape.”

Taking such care to write honest songs is, Nash believes, the reason why so much of his work has resonated with listeners for so many decades. “I think people understand that I’m trying to tell the truth,” he says. “I’m not trying to fool them. I’m not trying to put blinders on their eyes while they’re listening.”

Nash plans to perform many songs from his impressive catalog when he embarks on his extensive Sixty Years of Songs and Stories Tour this year. “I’m looking forward to playing all my songs and telling all my stories to people that paid good money to come see me. I feel incredibly proud of that and I’m very grateful that so far, the tour is sold out,” he says.

Although he has performed some of his hits thousands of times, Nash says he won’t mind playing them once again for audiences. “I keep realizing why they love those songs, and who am I to deny them a joyful feeling listening to a song that they want to hear?” he says. “The balance, of course, is with the brand new songs, which they’re not familiar with yet, so it’s kind of courageous to be out there singing brand new songs.”

He’s looking forward to performing two of his new songs, in particular: “One of them is called ‘Love of Mine,’ which I wrote for my wife, Amy. And the second one is a song I wrote with Todd Caldwell, my keyboard player, called ‘When It Comes to You.’ We had almost finished the record, and Todd was playing a couple of changes on the piano. I said, ‘[That’s] making me think of lyrics. Do you mind if I put lyrics to this?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely not—I couldn’t find any.’ So I did. And I love that song.”

As the name of the tour implies, Nash also plans to tell audiences about the backstory behind each of the songs he performs. “A lot of people want to know the story behind songs because as a non-songwriter, it must be pretty magical for them to be looking at someone that’s written 300 songs,” he says.

Whether it’s through this tour or his new album, Nash hopes to spread the happiness that he’s feeling these days: “I’m just having a great time with my life, talking about things, and hoping people listen.”

Photos by Amy Grantham