Rock icon Graham Nash on the lasting relevance of his music ahead of Tuesday’s Kauffman show

Graham Nash. // photo credit Misti Layne

Musician Graham Nash’s has a discography with such depth that, at concerts, he can play from every phase of his career for the duration of his show and still not hit on every single song for which he’s best known. Nash was one of the original members of poppy ’60s rockers the Hollies before going on to folk icons Crosby , Stills, and Nash and later, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young before moving on to a robust solo career.

“Bus Stop,” “Marrakesh Express,” and “Teach Your Children” would be a trio of hits any other artist would be proud to stand behind, but that’s not even looking at the triptych of hits which are “Our House,” “Ohio,” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”

Suffice it to say, it’s the kind of musical experience which is so tied to one memorable area of American history that we had to hop on the phone with Graham Nash ahead of his show at the Kauffman Center on Tuesday, July 14, to discuss his music and why it’s still astonishingly relevant.

The Pitch: When you perform these days, what do you find are the songs that you most look forward to playing?

Graham Nash: Probably answer in two parts. One, I know what my audience want to hear. They obviously want to hear “Our House” and “Teach Your Children,” and “Chicago,” “We Can Change the World” and “Military Madness” and “Immigration Man.”

That’s the skeleton of my show that I do, and in between those songs, I can do anything I want from the last, 60 years of writing. What I look forward to doing is playing the brand-new songs and seeing what kind of an of a reaction the audiences have. I absolutely adore that.

It’s gotta be great to have these songs you’ve written so far back still be received well, but I also have to imagine that it kinda sucks that some of the songs you’re performing are still relevant 50 or 60 years later.

Yeah. It’s really amazing how many of my songs are really relevant today. Even “Teach Your Children” is relevant today, and particularly with this administration and what they’re doing. I honestly don’t believe that a lot of the people that voted Trump in for the second presidency. I think they were much more interested in the price of eggs rather than any of the stuff that he’s found out to be doing lately.

As you’ve gone through your career, what have been some surprising highlights that you never really saw coming? I can’t imagine that when you were playing with the Hollies, you foresaw yourself still doing this 60-plus years later.

No, I didn’t. I must admit, I used to agree with Mick Jagger when he says, “Don’t trust anybody over 30.” Even Mick is, however old he is, and still rocking. I saw The Rolling Stones recently here just outside of New York, and they were just fantastic.

I’m very pleased to be a musician. I’m very grateful for being able to write music that touches people’s hearts and maybe makes them shake their ass at the same time.

That is what I love about your career: you almost went in reverse. You were a garage rocker that became a folkie rather than the other way around for so many other people. What were some of the things that led to that change?

Probably when I came to live in America in 1968. I had learned to play and write certain melodies when I was in The Hollies that you probably could remember, if you’d heard them a couple of times, but the lyrics really sucked in a way. When I came to America and saw what David [Crosby] and Stephen [Stills] and Neil [Young] and Joni [Mitchell] were writing, I realized that I have to up my game here. I have to make the songs mean more of the truth, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do ever since.

That was Woody Guthrie’s whole thing, right? Three chords and the truth.

That’s right. And even Woody Guthrie wrote a song about Trump’s father.

Being as how we are in our current political environment, do you occasionally find some folks who aren’t maybe prepared for your leanings?

I do find it interesting that there are some people that totally believe what Trump says. And that’s amazing to me–and I personally don’t wanna surround myself ever with people that think that way–but the truth is that we have another couple of years to go before he’s gone. I’m sure that he’s trying desperately to influence the upcoming midterm elections, and I think that he’s trying to do the best that he can to stay in power.

The wars that he’s created? Don’t forget he was supposed to be a “no more foreign war” president and now look what’s happening. But I really do believe that the Iran war was to deflect from the Epstein trials.

What are the challenges for you, writing new material as you go along? Where do you find your inspiration these days?

My wife Amy sent me a quote one day from Nina Simone. And Nina Simone said that, no matter what kind of an artist you are, a musician or a painter or a sculptor or whatever it is that you do, you have to reflect the times in which you live. I’ve never forgotten that quote, and that’s what I’m trying to do, as much as I can.

You’ve rejoined former bandmates several times over the years. What’s the difference between performing with a reunited Hollies or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young vs playing solo?

I do believe that if anybody likes that kind of music, they have to come and see me. That’s because, certainly, Neil Young is not gonna play any CSN songs. Stephen has stopped touring completely, and David unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. So if you wanna hear any of that kind of music, you have to come and see me.

How has your approach to these songs changed as you go along? Do you try to honor those original recordings, or do you occasionally change things up?

I think it’s important to bring things up to date and to change things up a little. You know, a song is a song, and if it touches people’s hearts, I can do it that way, and I very often do. But there are some songs that I like to change up a little.

Which songs do you like to change?

I think “Chicago” is an interesting song for me to bring the Trump administration into the lyrics of the song very subtly. I don’t have any answers to our problems, but I certainly have a lot of questions.

I feel like, ultimately, a lot of your music is just speaking truth to power.

Yes.

Is it exhausting sometimes to have to constantly address these things?

No, it’s not exhausting at all. I’m a musician, and I love to perform, and I love to include the audience as much as I can. Because I don’t want them just looking up on stage and seeing what they call a superstar. I want them to be involved in the music, too. I want them to sing “Teach Your Children” back to me. I want them to sing “Our House” back to me also. I want to include them in what I do.

Graham Nash plays the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, July 14. Details on that show here.