Micah Nelson on How He Got Neil Young Back on the Road | Rolling Stone

Micah Nelson Awaits:DangerBird Descends for "The Hurricane"August 10th - Richmond, VA
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"Neil’s in the zone, he’s riding the wave and he wants to keep riding it. So yeah, look out for us."  ~~ Micah Nelson 

From "Micah Nelson on How He Got Neil Young Back on the Road: ‘I Reminded Him He’s Not Old’ - The guitarist breaks down his summer tour with Young’s Chrome Hearts, the likelihood of another, and his new EP"  |  Rolling Stone by Andy Greene:

RS: The Chrome Hearts formed just a few months later. What was the spark that led to that?

Micah:  I knew how bummed out Neil was. He wasn’t feeling like making music. He was really sick. He was trying to get over that, and just get his energy back. And then he was really bummed out about what happened, and how it all went down. And that just kind of drained him a lot, and doused this flame.

I was like, “Is Neil fading away? This is unacceptable.” So I’d call him a lot and check in on him and remind him how he’s not old. I was like, “Do whatever you got to do, man. Take your time. I get it. Recharge. The tank has got to fill back up, and that can take time, but whenever you want to do the thing again, just call me up and I’m ready to go.”

I kept that idea going and reminding him that he didn’t play for four years, and he felt the rust. And then it took a few years once he started again to really, really get back in the groove.

He started with the solo [Coastal] tour, which was great. I think coming out from that hiatus and doing the Crazy Horse tour, we might not have lasted as long as we did even this time. He had to rebuild his energy.

I said to him, “Cory [McCormick] and Anthony [LoGerfo] from the Real, they’re down. I’ve talked to them.” And my brother [Lukas] … when that band went on their hiatus, he had written a letter to Neil just saying, “Hey, just because I’m not playing with these guys anymore, don’t feel weird about taking them out. They’re down to play with you, and they’re ready to go. So whenever you want to do it, don’t even hesitate.”

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RS: The Chrome Hearts tour got off to a really strong start in Europe. Fans were buzzing from the first show in Switzerland.

Micah: Yeah, the audiences really brought a lot of positive supportive energy, and it kind of took us by surprise. We were really energized by the people, and that helped. The Europe tour was challenging in a lot of ways, travel wise and routing and buses breaking down. But the shows were super energizing and the audiences … just cheering at places you’re not even expecting them to. Those kind of things, they really light the way.

RS: The set list was full of surprises. I never thought I’d hear “Be the Rain” or “Sun Green Again,” let alone “Looking Forward” and “Name of Love” from the CSNY reunion albums.

Micah: That’s the other cool thing about the Chrome Hearts that I think keeps Neil energized. He knows he can do anything. Whatever era of Neil or whatever deep cuts, we can learn stuff pretty quick and deliver something. And especially because we have Spooner, it’s like we can do the Harvest Moon stuff in a way that really feels like the albums, and we can go delicate and we can get loud and ragged and do everything in between.

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RS: A lot of fans followed the tour around. Did you see the same faces on the rail most every night?

Micah: Oh yeah. You start to recognize all the Rusties that are at every show. Some of them were in their twenties. It wasn’t just a bunch of old dudes in flannel shirts. We love those guys, of course, they’re fantastic. But especially in Europe, you had such a mix of different types of people, different age groups, and they’d be at every show.

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RS: Do you think Neil will play in the States again next year? Overseas?

Micah: It’s really hard to say. We’ve talked about Japan. We’ve talked about we could do Europe again, and do places that we didn’t even hit last time, all new places. Same with the States. We’ve talked about a Gulf of Mexico tour. That would be fun. We didn’t really hit that region last time. There’s a lot of fans down there.

RS: Do you think Crazy Horse is ever going to play again or is Ralph just not up for it?

Micah: It’s hard to say. I didn’t realize how unhealthy he was when we were on tour. I know that drums are probably the least forgiving instrument when you’re getting older to keep up a certain level of power behind your playing. So I don’t know how much of it was that, and how much of it was just the fact that he was not well. But he’s a tough dude. I wouldn’t be surprised if he came back and was healthy and feeling like he could do it again. I can’t really say for sure. It’s really up to those guys and up to Neil.

RS: I really hope another Chrome Hearts tour happens next year. This one was really special.

Micah: My feeling is, barring disaster … Neil’s in the zone, he’s riding the wave and he wants to keep riding it. So yeah, look out for us.

 

Full interview @ "Micah Nelson on How He Got Neil Young Back on the Road: ‘I Reminded Him He’s Not Old’ - The guitarist breaks down his summer tour with Young’s Chrome Hearts, the likelihood of another, and his new EP"  |  Rolling Stone by Andy Greene.

UPDATE: Potential 2026 Gulf of Mexico Coastal Tour details?!

via Greedy Hand Store

More on Micah Nelson @ INTERVIEW: Micah Nelson | Guitar World.

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