By Steve Wildsmith stevew@thedailytimes.com

During the height of fame for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the folk-rock supergroup that came to represent the counter-culture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the four men whose names it bears were on the front lines of social and political issues.

Graham Nash has never held back his political opinions. In the 1960s and ‘70s, his opposition to the Vietnam War and his support of environmental causes loomed large in his work with Crosby, Stills and Nash (and sometimes Young), along with his solo work. So it’s no surprise when Nash lets loose about current events.

Graham Nash has never held back his political opinions. In the 1960s and ‘70s, his opposition to the Vietnam War and his support of environmental causes loomed large in his work with Crosby, Stills and Nash (and sometimes Young), along with his solo work. So it’s no surprise when Nash lets loose about current events.

“Trump has given permission to all the crazies to come out and to exist and to grow,” says Nash. “I don’t feel like we’ve heard the last of neo-Nazis and the KKK and I think they’re only gonna get louder and stronger, because they’re encouraged by this president.”

A member of either The Hollies; Crosby, Stills & Nash; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; or Crosby & Nash for most of his musical career, Graham Nash is finally getting some alone time.

“I’m loving it frankly. I don’t have to answer to David, Stephen or Neil. I can play what the (expletive) I want to play,” said Nash, who has been touring to support his 2016 solo album, “This Path Tonight.” It’s his sixth solo album, and his first since 2002.

Nash tells Q104.3 New York's Ken Dashow on the Beatles Revolution podcast that his song "Teach Your Children" had just been released as a single and was climbing in the Top 30 when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd of unarmed Vietnam War protesters at Kent State University, killing four.

Within days of the tragedy, Neil Young wrote one of his most iconic songs: "Ohio."

If any artist can be called a musical icon, it’s got to be Graham Nash.

The career of the British-born singer, songwriter and instrumentalist has spanned six decades.