Coming out of the pandemic, Graham Nash is making a splash as COVID numbers come down and venues continue to open up.
And while music is very much on the menu, a good portion of last year found Nash delving into his first love — photography. Having snapped his first picture as a 10 year old at Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester, England after his father gifted him with a small camera called an Agfa, Nash has continued whetting his appetite for capturing images ever since. Given the access he’s had during his time as a musician, Nash has amassed a 2,000-count photography collection he curated and toured with from 1978 through 1984 before selling it at a 1990 Sotheby’s auction.
In 2010, he published a monograph titled Love, Graham Nash, and five years ago, the native of Blackpool, England privately printed nearly 6,000 copies of a book of older images. His most recent foray into the world of captured images is Life in Focus: The Photography of Graham Nash. Having crossed into his eighth decade of life on Feb. 2, Nash spent eight months completing that project last year.
“Now that I’m 80 years old, I wanted people to see what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years,” he said in a recent phone interview. “It’s been a very interesting project. I’m very happy with the way the book has been printed. Insight Editions did a fabulous job. All the images I sent them, they handled brilliantly and I’m very happy with the final product. When you put an image next to another image, particularly on a wall in a gallery, they talk to each other silently. You have to be very careful which image you put next to which image. And I wanted to know how they saw the images and how they would present them. I was delighted with some of their editorial choices.”
With a foreword by photographer/record producer Joel Bernstein and a preface by music journalist/filmmaker Cameron Crowe, Life in Focus is a curated collection of art and photography from Nash’s personal archive. Images of numerous family and friends — including Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills and Neil Young — abound alongside Nash’s own stories behind the pictures.
Given his passion for the art form, Nash is more than happy to share some of his favorite photographers. Among his favorites are Diane Arbus (“She had tremendous courage and vision”), Weegee (“He had the smartness to have a police radio in his car trunk so he could listen and rush out to take pictures”) and Henri Cartier-Bresson (“He was the guy who made one of the greatest statements of photography, which is ‘a decisive moment’”).
Back in the saddle
But lest music fans worry that Nash has hung up his guitar, rest assured the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is hitting the road this fall to plug in and revisit some old favorites.
“About a year and a half ago, I put together a band that I’d never played with except for a week of rehearsal,” he said. “What I’ve been doing is coming out and doing Songs For Beginners (his 1971 solo debut album) from start to finish. Then I’d take an intermission before coming back and doing Wild Tales (his 1974 sophomore solo album) from start to finish. We did that for four shows, recorded all of them.”
The album documenting those shows, Graham Nash Live: Songs For Beginners/Wild Tales, is out now.
Once he gets off the current tour, Nash will continue remotely working on an album with a band that includes guitarist Shane Fontayne. In addition, Nash is teaming up with longtime buddy and old Hollies bandmate Allan Clarke, an outing he’s eager to complete.
“Another project I’m working on that I’m very happy with is an album with Allan Clarke,” Nash said. “Allan Clarke has been my friend since he was six years old. We started The Hollies together in December of 1962 and when he left, it was because he couldn’t sing. But now he’s back, singing his ass off.”
Don’t look, however, for a reunion with Crosby, Stills & Nash bandmate David Crosby. (“It’s absolutely done,” Nash said.) The same seems to be the case when Nash is asked about The Hollies. He wasn’t invited to join original members Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliot for the summer tour that celebrated the 60th anniversary of the band.
“To me, it’s not The Hollies without me and Allan,” Nash said. “It’s just not.”
ON THE BILL: Graham Nash: An Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories. 8 p.m. Tuesday Oct. 25, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. Tickets: $50, axs.com
