The Lowell Summer Music Series announced its next show of the 2017 season and it is another winner! Graham Nash brings his duo act (with Shane Fontayne, who had appeared at the Series with Marc Cohn and Suzanne Vega) for two sets at the Series on Friday, July 21st! Wow!!! I saw him last summer at the Newport Folk Festival and was in tears for most of his too-short set.

“Legendary singer-songwriter Graham Nash is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee-with Crosby, Stills and Nash and with The Hollies. He was also inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame twice, as a solo artist and with CSN, and he is a GRAMMY Award winner.

Graham Nash (photo by Eleanor Stills)

“Nash’s passionate voice continues to be heard in support of peace, and social and environmental justice. The No Nukes/Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) concerts he organized with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt in 1979 remain seminal benefit events.  In 2011, Nash was instrumental in bringing MUSE back to the forefront with a concert to benefit Japan disaster relief and groups promoting non-nuclear energy worldwide.

“In September 2013, Nash released his long-awaited autobiography Wild Tales, which delivers an engrossing, no-holds-barred look back at his remarkable career and the music that defined a generation. The book landed him on the New York Times Best Sellers list and was released in paperback format in late 2014.

Graham Nash (photo by Amy Grantham)

“In recognition for his contributions as a musician and philanthropist, Nash was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth. While continually building his musical legacy, Nash is also an internationally renowned photographer and visual artist. With his photography, Nash has drawn honors including the New York Institute of Technology’s Arts & Technology Medal and Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters and the Hollywood Film Festival’s inaugural Hollywood Visionary Cyber Award.  His work is collected in the book Eye to Eye: Photographs by Graham Nash; he curated others’ work in the volume Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock ‘n’ Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash (2009).

“Nash’s work has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide. His company Nash Editions’ original IRIS 3047 digital printer and one of its first published works—Nash’s 1969 portrait of David Crosby— is now housed in the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in recognition of his revolutionary accomplishments in the fine arts and digital printing world.

“His new studio album This Path Tonight was released April 15, 2016 to rave reviews.

Tickets for the Graham Nash show are priced at $39 in advance (fee-free!) and children 12 and under are always free courtesy of Eastern Bank. There are also premium seats – beach chairs are provided by the Series – set in two rows directly in front of the stage for $139. Tickets for this show go on sale on Thursday, March 9th at 9 a.m. through Lowell Summer Music Series.

For those of you who are unaware of the Series, or if you are aware of it but have never attended a show there, it is an outdoor (weather permitting) concert series held on National Park Service grounds in Lowell, Massachusetts. The Series is not-for-profit, which helps keep the ticket prices reasonable.

Surrounding Boarding House Park are old mill buildings, part of the Lowell National Historical Park, which you can tour if you arrive early enough. They provide an unusual setting for an evening of great music and ambiance.

The Series generally runs from mid-June to early September.

This Series is dear to my heart. I have been a season pass holder since 2007 and it is one of the highlights of the year (and of summer in particular) for me. Many lasting friendships have been made there. I expect this will be another excellent year!

I will post additional announcements for the Series as they are made.

The final lineup is:

June 16 (Friday) – Michael Franti & Spearhead

June 17 (Saturday) – Vince Gill

July 21 (Friday) – Graham Nash

August 20 (Sunday) – Stephen Stills and Judy Collins