 Pete Finney and Michael Nesmith at Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara, California (Photo by Paul Wellman) And here's some footage from the recent run of concerts by Nez and the First National Band Redux at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California, thanks to Lisa Duclo:
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Singer, songwriter, and pioneer, Michael Nesmith, will visit the GRAMMY Museum for an intimate discussion on his celebrated career and recent work, moderated by Scott Goldman. Following the discussion, Nesmith will perform live. Starting in the Texas folk scene in 1963, Nesmith quickly blossomed into a brilliant tunesmith during his time on the Emmy award-winning The Monkees. His melodic, country-tinged songs were regularly featured on the band’s multi-million selling albums and singles, but he heard a greater creative calling to find his own voice as a record maker. During 1968, Nesmith ventured to Nashville and formed the band the First National Band (pedal steel virtuoso Red Rhodes, bassist John London, and drummer John Ware). After being signed to RCA by A&R man Felton Jarvis, the band released a few critically acclaimed albums, including Magnetic South (1970), followed by Loose Salute (1970) and Nevada Fighter (1971), which spun off the chart hits “Joanne,” “Silver Moon,” “Nevada Fighter” and “I’ve Just Begun To Care (Propinquity).” In January 2018, Michael Nesmith sold out The Troubadour in West Hollywood, performing his First National music for the first time in four decades. Songs like “Different Drum” (a Top 20 hit for Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys), “Some of Shelly’s Blues” (covered by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), and The Monkees’ classic, “Papa Gene’s Blues” filled the room with warmth and splendor. Nesmith will once again perform this music and share stories from his recent autobiography, Infinite Tuesday, while on tour in October 2019.
UPDATE 10/2/2019: Here is video of the performance portion from Michael's appearance last night at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. The set list included "Different Drum," "Joanne," "Some of Shelly's Blues," "Silver Moon," and "Papa Gene's Blues." Nez was backed by the First National Band Redux.
And earlier today, the Grammy Museum tweeted about Michael's appearance:
 (Photo courtesy of Roger Roland Di Lernia)  (Photo courtesy of Roger Roland Di Lernia)           (Photo courtesy of West End Celebration on Facebook)  (Click the image above for more information about West End Celebration)  (Photo by Sherri Hansen)  (From the October 1967 issue of Tiger Beat) Michael's familiar blonde Gretsch guitar (below, left) has been at his side since returning to the concert stage with The Monkees in 2012. It's not, however, the original blonde Gretsch that Michael owned in the 1960s, but a reproduction. His current blonde Gretsch guitar is a twelve string Country Classic I. It was custom made for him by Gretsch when he did a concert for them in the 1990s at the NAMM Show, a music products industry trade event. This was also the guitar used during recording sessions for the 1996 Monkees album, Justus. The Gretsch sunburst guitar (below, right), reminiscent of the Gretsch Viking guitar Michael played in the 1960s, was given to Nez by Andrew Sandoval in 2013. Michael played both guitars during the 2018 and 2019 "Mike & Micky Show" tour. (And that's pedal steel extraordinaire Pete Finney in the background of the photo below!)  (Photo courtesy of The Monkees Tour Facebook page)
If you are wondering what happened to Michael's original blonde Gretsch, it was stolen in the 1970s (along with Michael's white Gibson guitar, most famously seen during the "Circle Sky" live sequence in Head). Nez spoke about his affection for these instruments on Facebook in 2010, as well as his desire to have them returned. "I know they are out there still and I miss them and would like to have them back after all these years. Whoever has ended up with them, please return them, no questions asked. They were and are an important part of my life."  Los Angeles / September 2016 (Photo by Sherri Hansen)  (Photo by Sherri Hansen)  (Photo by Daniel Coston) Monkees photographer extraordinaire Sherri Hansen has shared with the Live Almanac her photos from Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith's performance at the Royal Oak Music Theatre in Royal Oak, Michigan on March 12, 2019. As many of you know, Sherri's photos are first-class and they have appeared on this website and many, many other outlets over the last several years. You'll also see pictures of the band in this slideshow - enjoy!  (Photo by Sherri Hansen) Last evening Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, and their band brought "The Mike & Micky Show" to a packed house at The Beacon Theatre in New York City. Thanks a lot to Renny Simno for sharing his photos from the show:     Here's a photograph of the merchandise table at the Beacon. Most of the items that were previously sold during the June 2018 shows are still available:  Thanks also goes to Wis Byron for sharing his video and photos from New York City with the Live Almanac:   The set list:
And here's a sampling of videos from last night's performance in New York City courtesy of Paula Carabell and Otom Izot on YouTube:  (Photo courtesy of Rediffusion)  (Photo courtesy of Cal Strummer)  (Photo by Andrew Sandoval)
Last night, "The Mike & Micky Show" stopped at The Paramount in Huntington, New York. Thanks to Monkees archivist and tour producer Andrew Sandoval for sharing the evening's set list!
Micky Dolenz also happened to be celebrating a birthday yesterday. Prior to the performance of "Randy Scouse Git," Andrew presented Micky with a cake and a special birthday gift. He shared a photo of the gift and the story behind it on his Facebook page:
(Photo by Paul Undersinger and courtesy of Micky Dolenz on Twitter)
(Photo courtesy of Christine on Twitter)
Micky with Christian Nesmith (Photo courtesy of The Monkees Tour Facebook page)
Last evening, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and their band performed a private show at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. "The Mike & Micky Show" will officially open tonight in Medford, Massachusetts at the Chevalier Theatre. Here is the set list from Uncasville:
UPDATE 3/3/2019: It was initially reported that "Carlisle Wheeling" was a part of the Uncasville set list. That early report was incorrect.  (Uncasville, Connecticut set list courtesy of Andrew Sandoval)  (Photos courtesy of Videoranch3D on Facebook)  |
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