Music legend David Crosby
is set to perform Saturday at The Plaza Live.
David Crosby has a very succinct reason for why he’s still making music. “I love singing,” said the acoustic folk legend. “I love singing so much that I can’t even start to tell you.”
For last year’s “Sky Trails,” the co-founder of Crosby, Stills & Nash worked with a group of musicians including his son, James Raymond. “They’re young and they’re fresh and they’re excited with life and they’re excited with the music,” Crosby says of his new band. “That’s the energy I need. It makes me create new music.”
The tour for “Sky Trails” will bring the Californiabased artist and his band Saturday to Orlando’s Plaza Live (8 p.m., 425 N. Bumby Ave., Orlando, $49.50-$99.50, plazaliveorlando.org).
On the phone from the road, Crosby, 76, discussed why he loves collaboration, his image and the lasting influence of his boat “Mayan,” which he sold in 2014. Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Question: What is it that draws you to collaborating with other artists rather than working solo?
Answer: For some reason, I love it. When I was a kid, my mom took me to see a symphony orchestra. I remember being bowled over by this big, beautiful sound the orchestra made. And I remember noticing that it came from all of them doing the same thing, and I realized that’s what was giving them the power, that it was a unified effort of a bunch of people and those people spoke with such a loud voice. That really affected me, and I have always loved making music with other people because of that.
Q: Do you see a discrepancy between the public image of you and who you really are?
A: I definitely do. People think stuff about you that’s just nonsense. They think I’m rich and that I’m a star. I’m definitely not rich because they don’t pay us for records anymore. And that star thing is completely false. So there’s two things that are fakeouts about me and about most people in the music business.
There are people out there trying to market that because then they can sell you. TMZ wants you to believe celebrity is real because then they can tear celebrities down.
Q: How do you still connect with the audience after all this time?
A: I talk a lot during in the show. I tell stories a lot, more in the acoustic band than in the electric band and even more when I’m solo. But I like telling people about the song and where it came from and why it is significant.
Other people don’t do it so much, but to me it is a natural thing.
Q: Are any of the songs you write today still inspired by your boat?
A: Everything is. I miss it, badly. It’s really painful.