Photo: Michael & Christian Nesmith | By Andy Greene, Rolling Stone | The son of Michael Nesmith is a guitar virtuoso that toured with Air Supply, brought ‘Hair’ to Russia, and can play Jimmy Page’s riffs better than Jimmy Page himself. Rolling Stone interview series Unknown Legends features long-form conversations between senior writer Andy Greene and veteran musicians who have toured and recorded alongside icons for years, if not decades. All are renowned in the business, but some are less well known to the general public. Here, these artists tell their complete stories, giving an up-close look at life on music’s A list. This edition features guitarist Christian Nesmith.
Christian Nesmith can’t even count the number of times he’s walked offstage, bursting with pride and adrenaline after playing an amazing concert, only to have someone shatter his joy by spewing a line he’s heard his entire life. “They go, ‘Oh, son of a Monkee!” he tells Rolling Stone. “I just shake my head. I have never known a time in my life where I haven’t been associated with somebody else. Until you walk in my shoes, you can’t know what that feels like.”
That somebody else is Michael Nesmith. And even though Christian was close with his father and played guitar in the Monkees touring band and his solo group the First National Band — and continues to work closely with Micky Dolenz on projects like Dolenz Sings R.E.M. — the vast majority of his career has existed far outside of the Monkees orbit. He’s toured as a guitarist in Air Supply and the Led Zeppelin tribute act Led Zepagain, served as the musical director for the first Russian production of Hair, and released a long series of collaborative albums with his wife Circe Link, tackling everything from prog rock to grunge and jazz. He’s also posted countless YouTube and TikTok videos where he plays rock standards with stunning precision.
“I don’t want to say that I’m a ‘mimic,’” he says. “But I have a great appreciation for the work that goes into finding different tones, and finding different ways of expressing yourself. That’s not just on a guitar, but vocals and drum sounds also. I just love sculpting and creating.”
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Read more here:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/christian-nesmith-monkees-final-tour-tiktok-1234874218/
Photo: Michael & Christian Nesmith | from Christian’s Facebook page
How Christian Nesmith Got the Monkee Off His Back
