Monkees member plans local concert during solo tour
Mike Nesmith’s first U.S. solo tour since 1992 includes a Tuesday concert at the Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead.
One of the four members of The Monkees, Nesmith will focus on his latter-day songs, though he has been playing the Pre-Fab Four’s “Papa Gene’s Blues” to open shows.
“I hope Monkees fans are not disappointed, but my solo recorded music is extensive and the songs that were part of the Monkees era comprise only a tiny part of it,” said Nesmith, whose set will draw from his early ’70s country-rock group First National Band and solo songs, such as “Joanne,” “Silver Moon,” “Grand Ennui” and “Thanx for the Ride.”
Sticking with e-mail interviews for this tour, Nesmith fielded these questions:
Q: Your concerts are said to have a thematic and cinematic nature, in terms of the songs you pick and the manner in which you introduce them. How does that enhance the concert experience?
A: The concert is not wildly different than a usual evening of live music but it has elements that one doesn’t ordinarily hear. So far the reaction has been extraordinarily positive and greatly encouraging.
Q: You’ll be performing in the Pittsburgh area on April 9. What can you tell us about your backing band and overall format of the show?
A: The band are all first call session musicians that have agreed to travel with me. They were drawn to the way the music is structured and arranged and the technical demands of playing it. Everyone had to climb up a very steep learning curve and they loved it. They are all outstanding musicians that play at virtuoso levels and so it makes the songs come alive in a way that is the most satisfying it has ever been for me.
Q: “Papa Gene’s Blues” has been an opening song on tour dates. It’s a song you wrote and sang, of course, but what else made you choose that one from the Monkees’ songbook?
A: It was one of the first songs I wrote and the lessons I learned from it continue.
Q: Do you believe your pioneering role, personally, in country-rock has been overlooked, and is that something you address during your concerts?
A: No. I don’t know what my role was and I am not sure anyone else does either. Country rock pretty much happened on its own and there were a lot of early practitioners of the form.
Q: As an inventor and patent holder, technology must be a keen interest for you. Can you tell us more about the special software used in your shows to provide the original pedal steel solo (by First National Band’s Red Rhodes) in “Thanx for the Ride”?
A: The software allows one to play back a sound — song or sample — in pitch and tempo that you decide — that is to say: it can change the tempo of a song without changing pitch and/or the change the pitch of a song without changing tempo. That made it possible for me to integrate one of Red’s solos into the show.
Q: Your lyrics for “Different Drum” (made a hit by Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys) sound so personal and direct; was that written autobiographically?
A: It is not autobiographical — it is merely an observation.
Q: Are there any current singers or musical artists you’d most like to collaborate with?
A: I am a great appreciator of many writers and singers and I love to collaborate on productions and performing — but I prefer to write alone. I don’t rule out a co-authorship — just have never found one that felt right.
Q: Whatever happened to all your wool hats you wore while in The Monkees?
A: I threw them all out into the audiences at various concerts over the years.
Q: One other Monkees question: You did occasional reunion tours/shows with Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones. Looking back, are you satisfied with the balance you struck between those shows and your solo albums and concerts? Or would you have wished to have done more of one or the other?
A: No — I am happy with the way that all happened. No regrets.
Q: Again, you’ll be returning here to the Pittsburgh area on April 9. Do you have any standout memories of prior visits here?
A: I haven’t spent much time there so I don’t know Pittsburgh at all well. I would love some tips for good food. Especially after a show — it is always hard to find someplace really good that is still open that late. I enjoy creative chefs!