At 82, Graham Nash could be content to write songs about the passage of time and rehash his memories of the days of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young), but the old hand still wants to to outrage and denounce.
A bit like he did in the past on titles like Teach Your Children et Immigration Man, the English artist, who has lived in the United States for a long time, expresses his sociopolitical concerns on a few tracks from his album Now, published in 2023.
His target? Donald Trump, whom he accuses of destroying the truth through songs Golden Idols et Stars and Stripes.
“Look at what’s happening in Springfield, Ohio. What Trump and JD Vance said about immigrants eating cats and dogs is incredibly racist,” he said in an interview with Journal before his concert at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec, on October 8.
Graham Nash is convinced that people are listening to him and that he can have an impact. “Music can change the world,” he proclaims.
If Trump is elected, he promises not to leave the United States. “I’m going to fight.”
A first in Quebec
In the meantime, he has a first meeting with the people of Quebec to honor. As incredible as it may seem, Graham Nash never set foot in the capital to sing throughout his long, sometimes tumultuous, and successful career spanning more than six decades.
“I can’t wait,” confides the man who will draw from a repertoire of more than 300 titles to build the show that he will perform in Canada and the United States for a month this fall.
“I know people want to hear my most famous songs, Teach Your Children, Our House, Chicago, Military Madness et Immigration Man, but I also have new songs that I want to do. My final choice will aim to please the public as much as possible.
Graham Nash in concert in Sweden, 2018.
Photo d’archives IF
Magic
After all these years, Graham Nash says the driving force behind his creative process remains a mystery to him.
“People who don’t write music think that writing songs is magic. And it is. I don’t really understand how this happens. When I write songs, I have to feel something very strongly. Then, when I have this feeling in my heart that I have something to say, I do as much research as possible before I start writing.”
Not nostalgic
The death of David Crosby in 2023 from a COVID-19 infection shook him and also put an end to the last hopes of a final reunion of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Despite everything, Graham Nash refuses to play the nostalgia card. Happy in love with Amy Grantham, for whom he left the mother of his three children in 2016, he says he looks forward, even if there is less ahead than behind.
“I never thought I could fall in love again at the age of 75. Now I am 82 years old and I see that it happened and I even married her.”
- Graham Nash in concert at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec, October 8.
