By Mary Ann Bourbeau
RED BANK – David Crosby has quite a life to look back on.
There’s the good – he was a founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash and at age 77, has a solo career that is still thriving. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a two-time member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and wrote many of the songs that served as the soundtrack for a generation.
There’s the bad – five heart attacks, a liver transplant, other health crises and personal tragedies. And then there’s the ugly – a struggle with drug and alcohol addiction and a stint in a Texas state prison. Fortunately for Crosby, he’s not a “looking back” kind of guy.
“I don’t think about it at all,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “I don’t spend time thinking about the past. I focus on what I’ll do today, tomorrow and next year. I’ve had success and I’m proud of it, but if you spend all your time looking over your shoulder at the past, you’ll run smack into a phone pole.”
Crosby is currently experiencing a career resurgence with four critically acclaimed solo albums released in the past five years. He is now headed on a 23-date tour with his Sky Trails Band, which will stop at the Count Basie Center for the Arts June 10. He will perform songs from his 2017 album “Sky Trails,” his latest solo record, “Here If You Listen” and many of the well-known songs from his legendary career.
“There are some songs you can’t leave out, like ‘Guinnevere,’ ‘Wooden Ships’ and ‘Almost Cut My Hair.’ People love these songs and expect them,” he said. “I probably do half old songs and half new. We change them up as we go along, and if I get tired of one, I’ll slap it out.”
The Sky Trails band consists of Jeff Pevar on guitar, Michelle Willis on keys and vocals, Mai Leisz on bass, Steve DiStanislao on drums and James Raymond on keys. Raymond, a musician, songwriter, producer and film composer, is also Crosby’s son. When Raymond was born in the early 1960s, Crosby and the child’s mother gave him up for adoption. But Crosby never forgot about him and in 1998, while awaiting a lifesaving liver transplant, he found out his son had been searching for his biological father. Crosby was amazed to not only meet Raymond, but to discover he is in the music business.
“He’s a brilliant musician, better than I am,” said Crosby. “The amount of talent he has is shocking. He’s way out of my league.”
Raymond holds no ill will toward Crosby for choosing to give him up at birth. “James gave me a clean slate,” said Crosby. “That’s one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me.”
Crosby was raised in Los Angeles, the son of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby. With that kind of connection, he set his sights on becoming an actor.
“It was mostly about getting the attention of girls, of course,” he said.
He briefly studied drama in college but soon discovered music was his passion.
“As soon as I started singing, I knew what I should do,” he said. “Music makes things better. It’s what I call a lifting force. Things are not good right now and people out there need a lift. I think it’s my job. It’s one thing I can do that helps.”
He’s always been a social activist, stemming back to the Vietnam War protest songs that Crosby, Stills & Nash played at Woodstock. These days, in addition to promoting his message through song, Crosby is very active on Twitter. “Things are pretty disastrously bad right now,” he said. “We have to address global warming if we want to survive as a human race. What we do next is utterly crucial.”
He is closely watching the field of Democratic candidates running for president in 2020.
“I think Mayor Pete (Buttigieg) is absolutely brilliant,” he said. “I’d rather see someone younger than Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden, but I think most of them are really good choices.”
In addition to his upcoming tour, Crosby has been promoting a documentary about his life entitled, “David Crosby: Remember My Name.” The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in February. In April, Crosby was a guest at the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival for a Q&A with director Cameron Crowe. He has his own cannabis brand called Mighty Croz as well as a new advice column premiering in Rolling Stone magazine this month called “Ask Croz.”
Naturally, he thought they were kidding when they approached him with the idea.
“I thought it was funny as hell,” he said. “No one asks me for advice.”
David Crosby will perform at The Basie at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 10. Tickets are $31-$80 with a limited number of VIP packages available. For more information, visit thebasie.org.
Arts and entertainment reporter Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com.
