Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, whose father and grandparents were household names, also became famous in the 1990s as the rock duo Nelson. They will perform at Brown County Playhouse on Thursday.
They were inspired by their hitmaking father, earned the respect of superstars such as Prince, and are determined to carry on the family musical legacy for years more.
Yet, Matthew Nelson hardly looks anywhere near 56 years old in a world of once-wild rockers who now sometimes appear more senior than their years (“I’ve never even smoked weed”). Yet, he openly acknowledged that he and twin brother Gunnar at times might have faced tougher opposition in the industry because of some resenting their Hollywood pedigree.
Ozzie and Harriet Nelson were their grandparents. Pop singer Ricky Nelson, who died at age 45 in a plane crash in 1986, was their Dad. Actor Mark Harmon is their uncle.
They played their first concert at age 12. They performed at notable punk and New Wave hangouts as teens, dealing with other angry bands sometimes sabotaging their equipment. Record company executives largely ignored them early, or made repeated promises that quickly evaporated.
“It was like we were guilty until proven innocent,” Nelson said, speaking by phone from his home in Nashville, Tennessee.
No wonder their 1990 double-platinum autobiographical debut disc — one that rose to No. 17 on the LP charts — was titled “After the Rain.”
The twins will bring an acoustic show to this area’s Nashville at the Brown County Playhouse at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. The setlist will include their No. 1 1990 Cindy Crawford-inspired pop tune “(Can’t Live Without) your Love and Affection,” plus four other charted singles, including “After the Rain” and “More Than Ever.”
Plus, they’ll also channel their Dad’s hits such as “Garden Party” and “Hello, Mary Lou.”
“I used to remind people, ‘We’ve sold millions of records to young people who had no idea who our family was, and didn’t care,” Nelson said of their earned allegiance. “People who were 21 and 22 years old had no idea who Ricky Nelson was.”
For those keeping score, the sales total is about 5 million records over 13 albums, most of which have been released on their own Stone Canyon Records label. Through their challenges, they have been guided by several rules, the first of which is “Be incredibly good.”
With both serious and lighthearted encouragement from people ranging from Prince to Bon J0vi guitarist Richie Sambora (“You can’t be a rocker without long hair”), the two took such control of their image that they took a page from the “Purple Rain” singer and designed their own clothes, purposely bright and colorful instead of dark or plain black like other bands in shadowy, black-and-white videos of the period.
Their second release, “Because They Can,” more of a folkish-country-rock release in 1995, featured The Eagles’ Don Felder and Timothy B. Schmit as musicians.
“We grew up with that sound with our Dad’s stuff and all the country-rock singers (Linda Ronstadt and others) who hung out at our house,” Nelson said.
But the public sometimes confuses the duo’s sound with their pals in the pop group Extreme, who scored big with the 1990 song “More Than Words.” Not long ago, a guy stopped Matthew and Gunnar in the Fairbanks, Alaska, airport to tell them that he and his wife had walked the aisle at their wedding to that tune.
“You guys did one of the greatest songs ever,” the traveler exclaimed.
They offered a warm thanks and moved on.
“We have maintained a sense of humor,” Nelson said.
On YouTube.com, fans young and older have responded in recent years to that release’s tunes and others as “sounding as good in 2024 as they did then.”
“I’m very flattered and very happy about that,” Nelson said.
The siblings most recently have been playing venues of a few hundred seats such as the playhouse to those boasting a capacity of a few thousand. And they’re seeing success. The duo recently sold out the 1,800 seat Kenly Amphitheater in Salt Lake City, Utah. But he still recalls their days in the harder-edged small venues.
“Gunnar and I back then thought we were a hard-rock version of Duran Duran,” he said, laughing. “… But today, I like to think that our music still stands on its own.”
About the concert
Who: Singer songwriter sibling duo Nelson, best known for the No. 1 1990 pop hit “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection.” With opening act Phil Pierle, who will be part of The Woomblies Rock Orchestra Aug. 31 at the Our Hospice of South Central Indiana concert in Columbus.
When: 7:30 p,.m. Thursday.
Where: Brown County Playhouse, 70 S. Van Buren St. in Nashville.
Tickets: $50 and $60 at browncountyplayhouse.org.
