Musician Graham Nash Photo: Supplied
Next March, legendary British musician Graham Nash will perform songs from his 60-year career at shows in Christchurch and Auckland.
At 81, the former member of the Hollies and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, is still a maker of music and a keen student of life.
His seventh solo album Now – released in May this year – includes songs inspired by finding love with photographer Amy Grantham.
The opening lines of Now:
'I used to think that I would never love again
I used to think I’d be all on my own
I really thought that it was coming to an end
And just the thought of it chilled me to the bone
But not now
Nine years ago, when Graham Nash was in his 70s, he thought that romantic life was for him a thing of the past.
"Then I met Amy and I realised that not only was she a beautiful woman, she's a great artist."
The "attraction that your heart and your mind has for somebody else" feels much the same when you're older, he says.
For nine years, Graham and Amy have lived in New York, which he describes as "a wonderfully chaotic, awful, beautiful, terrible place".
"I love the fact that I can hear five or six languages when I go down to Starbucks for my coffee. It's full of museums, it's full of galleries. I love this city, I wish I'd been living here many many years."
The United States definitely has its problems but is also a wonderful country, Graham says, and one where he's free to speak his mind, as he does on two political songs on 'Now' - 'Stars & Stripes' and 'Golden Idols'.
"Like Nina Simone said many years ago, artists have the duty to reflect the times in which they live."
Nash feels lucky that as a musician he's been able to to effectively do whatever he wanted since the age of 18 but he does work hard at like.
"I want to be the best person, the best musician, the best husband, the best father, the best friend. I'll never make it but I'm trying my best."
As someone whose life has included "incredibly shitty parts" he's not inclined to offer advice to others but believes each of us is wise to follow our hearts.
"Your heart knows what's good, your heart knows what's bad. Life is only the choices that we make… its all choices. We have to make the correct choices."
Next year, his New Zealand audiences can expect a couple of hours of peace and a mixture of well-known and new music, he says.
"I want to please my audiences. I want them to sing with me if they want to sing… I'm just the same as you. I've done different things with my life but basically, I'm a normal person."
In his off-duty time, he'll be exploring Aotearoa's cultural offerings and population.
"I'll be going out to galleries, I'll be going out to museums and I'll be among the people trying to figure out who the f--- they are."
Auckland tickets are available HERE and Christchurch tickets are available HERE
