From Their Rooms To Ours

Graham Nash recently performed three songs as part of the Rolling Stone In My Room virtual concert series. The solo effort was filmed at his New York apartment, and found him playing piano for his own compositions “Our House” and “Teach Your Children.” In between those numbers, Nash switched to an acoustic guitar for his take on Stephen Stills’ “4 + 20.” As Rolling Stone noted, all three songs came from the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album Deja Vu. In addition to his engaging singing and playing, Nash offered heartfelt advice and comfort on how we can all make it through the coronavirus lockdown. The In My Room series also recently featured Brian Wilson, which is only fitting since the series takes its name from the song Wilson wrote with Gary Usher for The Beach Boys in 1963. Other In My Room shows have featured Nick Lowe, Joan Jett, John Fogerty, and Grace Potter.

I’ve been reading drummer Bobby Elliott’s new autobiography It Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Story - My Life In The Hollies, and have just reached the part where Graham Nash makes the difficult decision to leave the British Invasion band. “He was, perhaps, feeling torn,” Elliott speculates. “Drawn by his new-found friends in the States, and the promise of fresh musical adventures, he still valued The Hollies. The band had been his life for a long time and walking away would be hard.” Elliott goes on to say Nash was particularly dismayed by the number of cabaret gigs the band’s management was scheduling; believing it woefully out of step with what most rock bands were doing at the time. Elliott also recounts when The Hollies wowed a packed house of top notch American musicians, including Stephen Stills and David Crosby, at the Whiskey A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. I’ve read about that eventful evening before, and always wonder if there were any recordings of it.

The Miami-based indie rock band Ex Norwegian has a series of Live In Stream shows scheduled tomorrow (Wednesday, April 29) on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Details can be found on the group’s Facebook page. I’ve favorably reviewed Ex Norwegian’s recent albums here on Broken Hearted Toy and have watched some videos, but have never seen them in a live performance. The band’s latest album Spotting Hues is due out June 5, and is available for pre-order on its Bandcamp page.

Also, keep checking social media for live performance videos posted by your favorite local and international music acts. The Power Pop Shoppe is doing a live broadcast on Facebook as I’m writing this. Earlier today, Chicago singer-songwriter Phil Angotti posted a stirring performance of Led Zeppelin’s “Going To California.” Other recent videos have come from John Petitt, Michael Steven Cohen, and Casey McDonough. Keep all those songs coming our way.