‘Long Time Gone’ from CSN, David Crosby plays new songs

At the ripe young age of 75, David Crosby still has the voice. He has been actively performing for more than 53 years and has twice been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — as a founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby has found new inspiration and released three albums in the last few years.

David Crosby & Friends played in The Silver Legacy’s Grande Exposition Hall on Saturday, April 29.

This tour’s set list was made up mostly of new material and songs from a previous project, CPR, which was active from 1996 to 2004.

All artists have a style of their own. When you hear them playing with a group, it can be unclear what each person’s influence is on the whole. Listening to new songs written by Crosby, I could hear a lot of CSN. His voice is as strong and clean as it always has been, and his finger-picking guitar style is still sharp. Crosby shared stories between songs, some informative, some just plain funny.

His band includes some very good musicians. Jeff Pevar (the “P” in CPR) plays guitar, while James Raymond (the “R” in CPR) handles keyboards and vocals. Raymond is Crosby’s son, who had been put up for adoption when he was born in 1962. They united when James was an adult. Mai Agan plays bass guitar, Michelle Willis is on keyboards and vocals and Stevie DiStanislao (who often accompanies David Gilmour of Pink Floyd) is the drummer.

The evening provided good music, good musicianship and great vocals. Other than one boogie number midway through the set, it was a little low key. Not a lot of excitement coming from the stage. Even though he purposely may be distancing himself from CSN, wanting to focus on his own new material, I would have enjoyed hearing a few songs that rang a familiar bell. The only CSN tune he played was “Long Time Gone,” which received a great reception from the crowd. People love to hear their favorites from the past.

-Nick McCabe