Crosby & Nash, Hendrix Tribute—

Two Historic Local Theaters Are Going Woodstock This Weekend

By John Voket

This weekend, two historic theaters in the region will celebrate two distinct styles of music representing the Woodstock generation. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers David Crosby and Graham Nash will bring their “Two Together Tour” to Torrington’s Warner Theatre for a sold out set on Friday, October 17, and two days later, fans of the late Jimi Hendrix can “Experience Hendrix,” with some of the world’s top guitar players at Waterbury’s Palace Theater.

In a conversation with The Newtown Bee preceding his Connecticut stop, Graham Nash said the current tour with his long-time mate represents an “astounding” achievement for the two harmonic collaborators.

“The tour is going very, very well. I’m extremely pleased. It’s really amazing we can do this so well after so many years,” Nash said.

The Torrington show will be an intimate experience with the duo as they celebrate four decades of music which began when they first harmonized in 1968. Since then, they have never stopped touring and recording together.

Thinking back on the early days, Nash told The Bee from day one working with Crosby, Stills and Young represented something very natural, even fated.

“We knew what we were doing [when we met],” he said. “We were all in harmony groups before. You know the Hollies, The Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield were all very good harmony bands. And we’d been listening to music all our lives... all the harmony people in the world.”

Nash said as students of harmony, when the famous foursome came together just before they took the stage at Woodstock in 1969, they represented something quite different than anything America had heard before.

“We didn’t have any claim on the notes we sang, and I think our sound and our ability to sing harmony is pretty organic,” he said, adding that on many occasions in the studio, various configurations of CSN&Y nailed their harmonies on the very first take. “I think when we get together with a piece of music, we have a pretty good idea and we pretty much know what we’re going to do with it.”

David Crosby first rose to fame as a founding member of seminal folk-rock band The Byrds. In addition to his solo work and ventures with CSN and CSNY, Crosby has made music with CPR, the jazz-skewed trio he formed with his son James Raymond and Connecticut resident Jeff Pevar.

Crosby’s classic songs include “Eight Miles High,” “Almost Cut My Hair,” “Déjà Vu,” “Guinevere,” “Long Time Gone” and “Wooden Ships,” and he is the author of three books: Stand and Be Counted: Making Music, Making History/The Dramatic Story of the Artists and Causes That Changed America and the autobiographical works Long Time Gone and Since Then: How I Survived Everything And Lived To Tell About It.

Graham Nash’s initial stardom was with British Invasion chart-toppers The Hollies, whose Nash-penned hits include “On A Carousel,” “Bus Stop” and “Pay You Back With Interest.” His CSN/CSN&Y classics include “Teach Your Children,” “Our House” and “Marrakesh Express.” Nash’s four solo titles include 2002’s Songs For Survivors and his debut, 1971’s Songs For Beginners, reissued as a deluxe CD+DVD edition.

The Experience Hendrix tour, a five-week long cross-country tour featuring an all-star line up of music greats paying homage to the music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix, features a cast of special guests along the way. Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford, Robby Krieger of the Doors, Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, blues scion Bernard Allison, Texas blues rocker and Eric Clapton sidekick Doyle Bramhall II and legendary Kid Rock guitarist Kenny Olson are among the performers who are jumping on and off the “Experience Hendrix” bandwagon. 

The guest players will be joining a core group of guitar greats that include Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Hubert Sumlin, Jonny Lang, Mato Nanji of Indigenous, Double Trouble’s Chris Layton, along with Billy Cox (Jimi Hendrix Experience/Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys) and Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix Experience).

Cox recently commented to Rolling Stone, “Nothing can compare to playing with the original master. But this tour is helping to validate the musical genius that I knew, by bringing Jimi Hendrix into the new millennium.”

Presented by Experience Hendrix, LLC, the Hendrix family-owned company founded by James A. “Al” Hendrix, Jimi’s father, entrusted with preserving and protecting the legacy of Jimi Hendrix together with musical instrument giant Gibson Guitar, this year’s Experience Hendrix Tour represents a dramatic expansion beyond last year’s seven sold out performances.

Various combinations of these music greats will be performing music associated with Jimi Hendrix on one level or another including Hendrix’s own compositions including “Purple Haze,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” “Little Wing” and “Red House,” as well as other songs that Hendrix performed or recorded as well as roots material that had a demonstrative influence on Hendrix’s own musical development.

Tickets are still available for the “Experience Hendrix” tour, which hits the Palace Theater in Waterbury on Sunday, October 19. The extended show starts at 7 pm. Doors are at 6 pm. Visit PalaceTheaterCT.org or charge by phone at 203-755-4700, all TicketMaster locations and TicketMaster.com. Tickets are also available at the Palace Theater box office

For more information visit PremierConcerts.com or ExperienceHendrixTour.com.