By Jason M. Rubin

At 84, the singer-songwriter discusses a lifetime of harmony, activism, loss, and why songs of peace and protest remain urgently necessary.

Graham Nash in performance. Photo: Misti Lane

It’s an ever-shortening list: those who performed at Woodstock in 1969 and are still alive and active in 2026. At age 84, Graham Nash is not only on the list, he is a road warrior who soon starts the third leg of a US tour that comes to New England in mid-September, and he looks, feels, and sings like a man half his age. He released an excellent solo album called Now in 2023, his first studio album of new material in seven years, and it truly earns a place among his finest solo works.

Nash’s solo career, of course, has followed (and outlasted) his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame resume that began with the Hollies, then Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young), and Crosby-Nash – all featuring his distinctive high-tenor voice and melodic, radio-friendly songwriting. I asked him how he has managed to survive for 62 years as a meaningful and relevant recording and touring musician in an industry that burns artists like bowls of weed.

“Basically, it’s because I love what I do,” he said. “I’ve been a musician since I was 13 years old and I’m still passionate about doing shows, about songwriting. It keeps me young. I love that I can bring a couple of hours of relative peace to my audiences. And I know that they want to know what I was thinking when I was writing songs like “Teach Your Children,” “Our House,” or Military Madness.” I just love it.”

Sadly, many of the things Nash has written and sung about throughout his career – war, injustice, nuclear power, immigration – are still relevant today. His Now album clearly demonstrates that he still cares about the state of the world and remains dedicated to sharing his tuneful opinions with his fans. Songs from that album such as “Golden Idol,” “Better Life”, “Stars and Stripes”, and “Stand Up” show that the fight for peace must never go out of style. In fact, he told me that “Better Life” is more or less “an extension of my feelings when I wrote ‘Teach Your Children’ in that we have to leave this world a better place.”

Looking around, however, it’s hard to find a lot of major artists – Bruce Springsteen is one – who are using their platforms to stage an encore of the protest movements Nash and his cohorts were part of, from the war in Vietnam to nuclear energy.

“This world is totally chaotic right now,” he said, “both politically with Trump and in terms of climate change. It seems the entire world is on fire. There’s a huge drought in England, where I’m from, and in two-thirds of the country the grass is brown now instead of green. I can’t speak for others, but I have to keep talking about it. My wife Amy showed me a quote from Nina Simone that said, ‘No matter what kind of artist you are, you have to reflect the times in which you live.’ I’m a human being, a member of the human race, and I have to talk about what’s going on with me right now.”

Looking at set lists from the previous leg of the 2026 tour, there were some notable absences, including tracks from Now (so if you’re the type of music fan who has little patience for material you haven’t heard before, you’ll be happy – on the other hand, he indicated that at least one song from Now is being added).

I did mention the absence of one of my favorite songs of his, the long-unreleased “Try to Find Me”, which was commonly included in CSN concerts in the late ’80s and ’90s. True fans know the genesis of this song. In 1986, CSNY were playing the first Bridge School Benefit Concert, organized by Young to raise money for a nonprofit school serving children with physical and communicative impairments. During their set, Nash’s then-wife Susan watched two children, a boy and a girl, in wheelchairs in the first row. For whatever reason, the girl was upset and wanted to leave. Slowly and gingerly, the boy reached over and took her hand, soothing her. Nash, who appreciated that I mentioned this song, said the song was written about that courageous and compassionate act, though he couldn’t recall why it wasn’t released until 2009 on his box set Reflections. “I love that song,” he said, “because we’re all trying to be found.”

As for the songs Nash is playing, without giving anything away, he told me, “I basically have six or seven songs from throughout my career that I know people want to hear. Beyond those, I can do whatever I want. I’m playing with three other guys who are half my age and know my songs by heart. So I have to stay on my toes.”

Nash also plays songs written by his former CSNY bandmates. I had to ask if there might be a chance of a future project involving some combination of Stills, Nash, and Young. The answer, sadly, was no. “David was the heartbeat of the band and since he has passed away I don’t think the rest of us will ever collaborate again. Also, Stephen has retired and Neil won’t play any CSN songs so if you want to hear them you have to come see me.”

(I want to note for the record that I didn’t ask Nash about his acrimonious split with Crosby some years ago for the same reason I didn’t ask about it when I interviewed Crosby in 2016: Because it has nothing do with the music.)

I closed the interview by asking Nash to look back on his career and tell me one thing he’s most proud of, and one thing he most regrets. “I am most proud of the ability I have to speak to and perform for my fellow human beings,” he said. “I’ve tried my best to make them shake their ass and think at the same time. My only regret was being on tour both when my father passed and when my mother died. In neither case was I able to see them before they had gone.”

On this leg of his 2026 tour, Nash continues to be joined on stage by Todd Caldwell (keyboards and vocals), Adam Minkoff (bass, drums, guitars, and vocals), and Zach Djanikian (guitars, mandolin, drums, and vocals). There are five New England dates:

• September 12: Northampton, MA—Academy of Music
• September 13: Lowell, MA—Boarding House Park
• September 15: Portsmouth, NH—Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club
• September 17: Stowe, VT—Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center
• September 20: Waterville, ME—Waterville Opera House

Jason M. Rubin has been a professional writer for 40 years. He has written for The Arts Fuse since 2012. His books include SHORTS: A Sizable Collection of Short Fiction (2025); Villainy Ever After (2022), a collection of classic fairy tales told from the villains’ point of view; and Ancient Tales Newly Told (2019), a pairing of two historical romances, one set in 17th-century England and the other in Biblical Jerusalem and Sheba. Jason also teaches journaling workshops. He holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Learn more here.