This past Tuesday, April 2, was the big day: the official publication of my new book, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: The Wild, Definitive Saga of Rock’s Greatest Supergroup. At times I feel like my entire life has been leading up to this day, from the time I borrowed my older sister Colette’s copies of Crosby, Stills & Nash and Déjà vu to the years in high school and college when I followed their saga in the pages of Rolling Stone and other rock mags. Well, now I work at Rolling Stone and have interviewed CSN for the magazine and my book Fire and Rain. And now, about three years after I began and after interviewing about 100 people for it, I’ve told their complete story in my book.
The festivities actually began on Sunday, March 31, with a launch party for the book at the Cutting Room here in New York. Many friends and colleagues were kind enough to stop by, and musicians Sean Richey and James Sheppard joined me for a words-and-music event. They played a handful of CSNY classics while I yapped in between about the song and group history. Sean and James were terrific, and their version of “Déjà vu,” not an easy song to learn, nailed it. That’s me at the podium; more pictures will follow.
Launch day began with an appearance on SiriusXM’s morning show, “Feedback,” on the Volume channel with co-hosts Lori Majewski and Nik Carter, both of whom offered up their usual energy and smart questions. Then came a few radio interviews, a talk with a writer for Closer magazine (to be published soon), and, then, that same night, a joint appearance at the legendary Strand Books in New York’s Greenwich Village. I was joined by my Rolling Stone colleague Brian Hiatt, author of the also just-published and must-read Bruce Springsteen: The Stories Behind the Songs. (That’s us with the crowd.) The room was full, the vibe was great, and we talked about our respective book subjects and signed a ton of books. Brian and I will also be taping an episode of Rolling Stone’s Music Now podcast—will fill you in later on when that airs. I’m exhausted—but in a good way.