Music review: Graham Nash – ëƵThis Path TonightëƵ
For his first solo release of new tracks in 14 years, Graham Nash pens a deeply personal set of reflective musings focused firmly on documenting a lifelong journey of self-discovery and character-molding experiences.
Reflective messages of love, loss and mortality are woven with great care and detail into the mus ical fabric of NashëƵs intimate 10-song testimony.
The 74-year-old singer, songwriter, activist, photographer and two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Hollies is still in fine voice as he gazes back into the mirror of his past while also pondering the new path patterned before him.
The new arrangements contained on his sixth solo effort come together from the fallout of a dissolved marriage, a heated feud with David Crosby and the renewed hope and passion of a new love.
The title track finds Nash unsure of where he is heading but determined to stay the course to the best of his abilities as he confesses, ëƵI may not know just where IëƵm going/But IëƵm on this path tonight.ëƵ
ëƵMyself at LastëƵ follows as Nash wonders what legacy heëƵll leave behind by asking, ëƵAnd the day that breaks before me/May never be surpassed/And the question haunting me/Is my future just my past?ëƵ
On ëƵGolden Days,ëƵ Nash fondly looks back at his early musical years when Crosby, Stills and Nash (and sometimes Young) made music that defined a generation.
ëƵI used to be in a band/Made up of my friends/We played across the land/When music had no end,ëƵ nostalgically sings Nash as he reminisces about the ëƵoldenëƵ days with songs full of soul and hope and when broken days eventually evolved into golden days.
The BandëƵs Levon Helm is the center of a heartfelt tribute on the earthy and fragile ëƵBack HomeëƵ with Nash offering, ëƵMay the circle be unbroken as the band plays on.ëƵ
ëƵEncoreëƵ brings a fateful finality to the album as Nash ponders what will happen when our journey nears its end by asking, ëƵWhat you gonna do when the last show is over?ëƵ
Fortunately, Nash seems far from performing his final show as he follows a new path filled with endless possibilities.
Clint Rhodes is the ëƵ-Standard music reviewer.
He can be reached at crhodes@heraldstandard .com.