Graham Nash’s contributions to music have seen him reap an exceptional number of rewards, not least two inductions into the Hall Of Fame - firstly with American supergroup Crosby, Stills And Nash, then with The Hollies. The Salford-born icon chats to What’s On ahead of joining a star-studded line-up at this month’s Moseley Folk Festival...

For anybody who doesn’t know, The Hollies were one of the biggest bands of the 1960s, releasing their debut single, Just Like Me, in 1963, and then going on to amass a string of hits, including Just One Look, Here I Go Again, Look Through Any Window, Bus Stop and Jennifer Eccles. At the heart of their sound were the voices of Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, Salford school pals who had been performing together for a number of years prior to the arrival of The Hollies.  
But frustrated by their musical direction, Nash quit the band in 1968 and relocated to the US, where he formed supergroup Crosby Stills And Nash (later joined by Neil Young).

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In the years since, the two old school friends have reunited now and again, but this year sees them writing and recording together for the first time in decades (Nash reckons 1983!), with the track Buddy’s Back appearing on both Nash’s new Now album and Clarke’s I’ll Never Forget LP (with Clarke’s record featuring further collaborations).
"Allan had lost his voice many years ago,” recalls Graham, “and couldn't sing The Air That I Breathe, He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, and Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress. But he called me about eight months ago and said he’d found his voice, and I said, fantastic - any help I can give?
"He said: 'Yeah, well, I've got a couple of songs I want you to consider. If you like them, put your voice on and send them back.' So I did that. And he loved them. So what does he do? He sends me another two songs - and now I'm on 10 songs on his solo record! And I'm very happy about it.”
Born in 1942 and raised in Salford, Manchester, Nash was part of a young generation of British musicians for whom rock & roll/pop music was suddenly a viable, long-term, career option.
“Me and Allan started out in working men's clubs. We were just two teenagers with a couple of acoustic guitars singing skiffle songs. But the audience loved us. And once we realised that, we were off and running as musicians.
"We were supposed to do what our dads did, and our grandfathers did. We were supposed to go down the mine and dig coal, or supposed to go in the mill and make cloth. But fortunately, my parents recognised my passion for music and encouraged me, rather than slapping me upside the head and telling me to get a real job... Do what you love.”

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Although Crosby Stills Nash, and their various configurations, dominate Graham’s post-Hollies discography, the songwriter has nonetheless enjoyed a successful if sporadic solo career since releasing his debut offering, Songs For Beginners, in 1971. Occasional solo releases have followed, although only three this century. But as he's quick to point out, alongside working towards 2016’s This Path Tonight and this year’s Now, the last decade has seen him involved with a mass of other releases.
“Don't forget that in that time I put out something like 14 CDs. I did the CSNY Stadium tour of 1970 - that was four CDs; I did Stephen [Still]'s box set of four CDs; I did David [Crosby]'s box of three CDs; I did my own box; I did demos of Crosby Nash... in between making solo records.”
He also found time to marry his third wife, photographer Amy Grantham, and relocate to New York: “The city that never sleeps.” 
Now 81, and despite his concerns for the world and environment, he says he's personally happier than ever: “I used to think that I would never love again.”
A special guest at Moseley Folk & Arts Festival, where he joins a line-up that also includes Squeeze, Wilco, The Proclaimers, Stornoway, The Saw Doctors and The Mary Wallopers, Graham has no plans to slow down. Forthcoming projects include a new collection of previously unheard Crosby Nash live recordings, and the possibility of a new solo album culled from Now and This Path Tonight surplus cuts. 
And as an avid photographer for decades, he’s also planning a new photography book.

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Inspired by his amateur photographer father, Graham began taking photos of his family at the age of 11. “That was the first time I realised that I could see things differently,” he says. Though music became his primary obsession, he’s never stopped snapping and was quick to embrace the possibilities of digital photography and digital printing.
“I waited for years and years for digital to get to the resolution of film, but it's way past it now, right? I love to be able to work on images, having a cup of tea and using Photoshop to get rid of scratches and stuff like that. I'm always doing something.”
Capturing images of those around him over the years - from bandmates and associates, such as Joni Mitchell, to family and friends - Graham finds inspiration in studying pictures taken by some of the best in the business.
“Diane Arbus is a great photographer; Weegee is a great photographer. I like unusual photographs. I do collect photography - just images that I can’t leave the store without.”

on Fri, 25 Aug 2023

Vashti Bunyan is an English singer-songwriter whose first foray into music came to an abrupt end in 1970 following the release of debut album Just Another Diamond Day. Disillusioned by the industry, Vashti decided to call time on her burgeoning career. Fast forward 30 years to 2000, and the very same album had garnered a cult following, leading to a re-release and the second phase of Vashti’s career.  Vashti’s memoir, Wayward, was published earlier this year, and this month she joins a stellar line-up at Moseley Folk & Arts Festival, where she’ll take part in a Q&A about her musical journey. What’s On recently caught up with her to find out more..

Songwriter Vashti Bunyan is enjoying being back on the road. But rather than singing and strumming, she’s out promoting her debut book.

“Doing these book readings is great,” she says enthusiastically. “You get to travel without getting on a plane with a guitar, without carrying a guitar around airports or stations or trains, wherever. Now I only have to take a book! That's really, really great.”

The book in question is Vashti's autobiography, Wayward: Just Another Life To Live, which she initially began for her family. More of that later.

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Vashti grew up in post-war London and adored music. She looked set to make an impression in 1965, when - guided by the Rolling Stones' manager & producer, Andrew Loog Oldham - she released the Jagger/Richards composition, Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind. But the single flopped - as did her debut album, Just Another Diamond Day, featuring musicians from Fairport Convention and the Incredible String Band, and recorded by Nick Drake’s producer, Joe Boyd.

Explaining why she believes the album failed to make any impact at the time, Vashti says: “The songs were written in ’68/’69, it was recorded at the end of ’69, and it didn't come out till the end of 1970. In all of that time, there were changes - in the music industry, in people’s lives, in the attitudes, likes and dislikes. Things had changed so, so much.
“So by the time it came out, it had missed its little window of opportunity, where people were maybe looking for gentle music. It was ignored.
“Also, by the time it came out, I didn't particularly like it anyway. I didn't like the folkiness of it, and I still find it quite difficult. I love the tracks that [string arranger] Robert Kirby arranged, but the more folky treatment of the tracks, I hadn't thought of them before - when I was writing the songs, I just had my guitar with me. So I didn't feel that it was mine anymore. I didn't promote it in any way. I did a couple of interviews, and Joe Boyd wanted me to stay in London and do some shows to promote it, but I didn't.”

Having just had a baby, Vashti simply vanished, turning her back on music. And that was the end of the story, until - thanks to the internet, and totally unbeknownst to her - Just Another Diamond Day became much sought after by record collectors, prompting a surprise re-release in 2000.

Flabbergasted by its popularity, Vashti soon found herself championed by a younger generation of musicians - including Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Adem, Vetiver - and part of the so-called Twisted Folk movement. The album's growing reputation was boosted by its fascinating backstory; Vashti had begun writing songs during an 18-month journey by wagon & horse from London to the Scottish islands. She and then-partner Robert had planned to settle in an artists’ colony where troubadour popstar Donovan also resided.

“Just by chance Donovan was back on Skye when we arrived,” she recalls. But their long-held plans rapidly dissipated. “It was very clear to us that there wasn't a place for us there anymore - it was impossible for us to stay there. But I did sing him Rainbow River, and nothing was said. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing was said! So I understood that we were going to have to keep going - which is what we did, to the Outer Hebrides.”

Back to the 21st century - and realising how much she'd missed music since the disaster of Diamond Day's initial release, Vashti began playing live. She released two albums of new material - 2005's Lookaftering and 2014's Heartleap. And now comes Wayward, published by White Rabbit earlier this year to great reviews. The book has been a chance for Vashti to tell her side of her story. In the process, she’s corrected many of the myths which have grown up about her over the years - and in particular about the wagon & horse trip.

She began writing the book way back in the 1990s, before her rediscovery. "Every few years, I'd come back to it and write a little bit more, but I became so much more involved in music when Just Another Diamond Day came out in 2000. I started performing and recording again, so the story got shelved.”
However, while making a documentary about her (From Here To Before, completed in 2008), she mentioned the partially penned autobiography to filmmaker Kieran Evans, who in turn mentioned it to Lee Brackstone at White Rabbit.

“Lee wrote to me, I sent him some of the writing, and he offered me a book!”  She completed the autobiography during lockdown. “Although lockdown was so completely horrible and dreadful and awful, it did give me the time to sit down and write.
“I found that it came really easily in the end, to just write.” In terms of the 1968 horse & wagon trip, Vashti was pleased to be able to put the record straight. “So many people had written it for me, in so many articles, but I felt that it was never quite right, and I wanted to put it right. I didn't want to disappoint people who loved the story for its fantasy of this lovely wagon; I didn't want to take that away too much. But I did want to bring a bit more reality into it, a bit more of the mud and rain, and what we went through.”

Having now told her story in print, Vashti's hitting the road again to perform at Moseley Folk & Arts Festival on its final day (Sunday 4 September). Now in her 70s and with no plans for any more concerts, she seems happy with the idea of occasional recordings and further books. “I'm trying to do a bit more writing because I really enjoy it, which really surprised me. I'm trying to write the bit that's missing in the book.”   

on Tue, 30 Aug 2022