David Crosby’s son leads a ‘family and friends’ retrospective

California musician James Raymond was nearing 30 when he learned that his birth father was none other than David Crosby, the legendary singer/songwriter and cornerstone of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

CPR: Pevar, left, Raymond and Crosby.

Almost from the moment they met, Raymond and Crosby had an unshakeable musical connection. And for the last 30 years of his life, Crosby, who died in January 2023, worked side-by-side with his long-lost son. Together with guitarist Jeff Pevar, they performed and recorded under the name CPR. Raymond then worked on all of Crosby’s solo records and was musical director for Crosby, Stills and Nash on the occasions when  they reunited to go on the road.

Raymond, logically, is the lynchpin of “Our House: The Music of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,” tonight at the Capitol Theatre in Clearwater. The all-acoustic band (well, there’s no drums or bass) includes Pevar, plus guitarist Steve Postell and Michelle Willis, close musical associates of Crosby in his later years. Berry Duane Oakley is also on guitar. Raymond is a keyboard player. And yes, they all sing.

Opening the show is Astrid Young, Neil Young’s younger half-sister. She’ll also provide backup vocals for the Our House combo.

St. Pete Catalyst: What was the genesis of this tour?

James Raymond: Before David passed away, Steve Postell and I were working with Croz to put a band together for a tour. Steve was integral to that project in that he learned all of Croz’s guitar parts. We were supposed to be playing a show in Santa Barbara, and so we decided to go ahead with that concert – we had some other artists involved and put a really great band together, and we just got a lot of feedback that boy, it would be great to take a version of this on the road. Because a lot of people really want to hear that music.

Have you come across people who thought ‘This is just another tribute show’? Without understanding exactly what it is.

There’s a shorthand for groups that play other people’s music, and that’s tribute band, but we don’t really think of ourselves in those terms. Just because so many of us were so close to the group, and have such an immediate relationship with the music. I don’t know what the term is, really. There is something to describe it, but I haven’t landed on it yet, honestly.

But you do the three-part harmonies? Do you take a deep dive into that massive catalog?

Yeah, and that’s what’s been really fun, is to hear “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” with a bunch of great singers and musicians that really know the stuff. We’re going pretty deep into the CSNY catalog, and the response has been great. People just really enjoy hearing those songs. Especially performed at this level.

It was amazing that Crosby was making so music new music in his 70s and 80s.

I agree. He and I were just starting a new record. We got a couple of songs into a brand new record. And he was full-tilt, going for it. And still very much moving forward with new ideas, and wanting to go to new places. So that’s been a big inspiration to me, personally. At 62, I feel like I’m just scratching the surface. Because of that example that he set, you know?

I read that his music, when you were a young player and before you knew him, was not really on your radar …

I graduated high school in 1980, and I wanted to be a session musician. I was listening to the guys who were playing on all the Boz Scaggs records, and Earth, Wind & Fire and all this stuff. My teen years, I was very much R&B, funk and jazz type of groups. And listened to everything. Then, CSN wasn’t really on the radio so much. So I knew their music, but it was not what I was living and breathing.

Did you know who he was, in your life, then – or was it sprung on you?

Being adopted, I never knew my birth parents. And when I was about to get married, in ’93, I guess I had just turned 30, and my adoptive parents, John and Madeline Raymond, said “You know, since you’re engaged, you maybe should look for your birth parents.” With their blessing, I did start the search. And that’s when I found my birth mother. She was looking for me at the same time I was looking for her. She was an ex-pat living in Perth, Australia. And we got hooked up through L.A. County post-adoptive services. She and I met at my wife and I’s wedding.

The only thing I knew, growing up, was that they were 20 years old, in the arts, musician father, mother who was into music and drama, Irish and Welsh and Dutch. And that’s it.

So how did you find out it was Crosby?

Well, when I went down to L.A. County Post-Adoptive Services, I had to sign some stuff to finalize the search; when I heard that my birth mother was looking for me, they had to kind of make it official. And I think the woman there messed up and brought the whole book out, and laid it in front of me.

And my birth certificate was there, and it said, “David Van Cortlandt Crosby.” I thought it was probably another guy with that name, you know? But when I met my birth mother she confirmed, yeah, it’s that one.” Which made a lot of sense. I always figured I came to this talent in some kind of way. That it was in my genes.

How did you start playing music together?

We met pretty soon after his liver transplant. He was coming down to L.A. for some post-operative stuff, and we met at UCLA Medical Center. And hit it off right away. I think probably within a few months he gave me some lyrics, to see what I could do with them kind of thing.

And then we did a couple benefits together. I think he was very relieved that I didn’t suck as a musician. He was pretty happy with my writing.

And then he came to me and said “I know this guitar player, Jeff Pevar – I think the three of us should do something together.” And I was all for it. I was in.

Tickets for tonight’s concert are here.