Graham Nash will play three New England dates over four days: the Academy of Music, 274 Main St., Northampton, on Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.; Boarding House Park, 40 French St., Lowell, on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.; and Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club, 135 Congress St., Portsmouth, N.H., on Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. The Northampton tickets start at $81, Lowell tickets start at $68, and the Portsmouth performance is sold out, according to The Boston Globe.
From the Hollies to CSN
Nash began his recording career with the Hollies, the British group he formed with Allan Clarke in 1962. Named for Buddy Holly, the band recorded “Bus Stop,” “Stop Stop Stop” and “On a Carousel.” The Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, after Nash had left the group, according to The Boston Globe.
A later turning point came with David Crosby and Stephen Stills. The three first sang together in July 1968, a meeting that led to Crosby, Stills & Nash and helped define the early rock supergroup era, the Globe reported. After the trio released its 1969 debut, Crosby, Stills & Nash won Best New Artist at the 12th Annual Grammy Awards in March 1970, according to Wikipedia’s account of the ceremony.
Music and political work
Nash’s political work has included opposition to nuclear power. The Clamshell Alliance formed in 1976 to oppose the proposed Seabrook plant in New Hampshire. During a 1977 occupation of the construction site, 1,414 demonstrators were arrested, with some held in National Guard armories for as long as two weeks, according to HISTORY.
Following the Three Mile Island accident in March 1979, Nash helped establish Musicians United for Safe Energy with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Harvey Wasserman and John Hall. MUSE held five No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden that September; an accompanying rally drew nearly 200,000 people, according to the organization’s history. The Globe also reported that Nash continues to question whether nuclear waste can be safely contained.
New England context
The Northampton performance is set for a theater with a long civic history. The Academy of Music says it opened on May 23, 1891, and became the nation’s first municipally owned theater after it was deeded to Northampton’s citizens one year later, according to the Academy of Music. Seabrook remains under federal nuclear-safety oversight. According to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection report, inspectors reviewed Seabrook Station from April 1 through June 30, 2025, and identified no findings or violations of more than minor significance.
A continuing solo career
Nash continues to perform music associated with the Hollies, Crosby, Stills & Nash and his solo work. David Crosby died in 2023 at 81. The Globe reported that Nash’s current concerts include songs from Now, his 2023 solo album, including “Love of Mine,” which Nash identified as a favorite. The same report said filmmaker Robert Zemeckis is preparing a Crosby, Stills & Nash documentary and that a related box set is expected to include nearly three dozen previously unreleased songs.
Nash has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2010, according to the Wikipedia biography. He entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame with Crosby and Stills in 2009, according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Nash is also associated with Nash Editions, the digital printmaking studio he co-founded; the studio says it was the first of its kind and that equipment and one of Nash’s photographs were later donated to the Smithsonian, as described by Nash Editions.
