Sunday, June 03, 2007

Stevie Nicks "Vision Quest" Performing Songwriter Article

Daniel over at Stevie-Nicks.INFO typed out the entire article from the June, 2007 edition of Performing Songwriter. Click the picture to be taken to his site and the article...

Stevie Nicks Houston Review June 2, 2007 - Woodlands Pavilion

June 03, 2007
Nicks sends Woodlands fans into a frenzy

Stevie Nicks' book of spells hasn't changed much since her halcyon days as a gypsy rock goddess. But there's a good reason--actually, several decades' worth--why scores of fans still turn out for shows. Nicks' alluring mix of mood and music still weaves considerable magic.
The faithful were there Saturday night at the Woodlands Pavilion. Some in lace, some in shawls and still others in khaki shorts and polo shirts. Several brought flowers. Many scooped up several souvenir shirts and posters as they waited for their queen.

Nicks appeared soon enough, looking trimmer than usual in the requisite black, her blonde hair (still) cascading down her shoulders. She charged through opening number Stand Back and began twirling early in her hour-and-40-minute set, inciting rapturous cheers from the sizable crowd.

The song packed a glossy punch despite being more than two decades old, and it has recently resurfaced via fresh club remixes from DJ Tracy Young. (Coming soon to a dance floor near you, no doubt.)

Fleetwood Mac classics (Dreams, Gold Dust Woman) flowed seamlessly into solo hits (1983's If Anyone Falls) throughout the evening. Nicks has an easy, unfussy grace with her material. It's a familiarity that can only come with time and extensive touring.

She made slight changes to arrangements, and stretched some songs out into formidable showcases for her band and singers.

And for all the otherworldly gypsy drama that marks her image, Nicks comes off surprisingly warm and accessible onstage. Kind of like a really groovy aunt. She thanked the crowd repeatedly for its enthusiasm and chattered casually with her ten-piece band.

A lovely piano intro preceded Rhiannon, which also made time for a quick outfit change. (More flowy black, of course.) Enchanted was a nice change of pace--a jangly, rootsy gem that inspired the title of a 1998 box set.

Nicks introduced Sorcerer as a tune she had written (and demoed) more than three decades ago. It eventually found its way onto 2001's Trouble in Shangri-La, Nicks' last studio disc. The song required more vocal punch than much of the evening's material, and she proved up to the task.

The sly gallop of Gold Dust Woman was like welcoming back a mischevious friend. Images of mystical women and dancing lights flickered on the backdrop.

Nicks described the ubiquitous Landslide as simply being "about family." It still shows no signs of age, and accompanying photos of her late father only added to the tune's bittersweet shimmer.

Extended drum and guitar solos gave way to the sexually charged groove of Edge of Seventeen, the evening's unofficial closer. Nicks disappeared backstage and returned in what looked like schizophrenic wedding wear--a white dress and black tails with fringe. She did her usual meet-and-greet at the foot of stage, making off with several bouquets of flowers and cards.

Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll was the first of two encores, and a top-hatted Nicks played it like a freewheeling karaoke number. Better was Beauty and the Beast, a dramatic ballad accompanied by arresting black-and-white images from Jean Cocteau's 1946 French film. The stark beauty was matched by Nicks' own soaring vocals, and it proved a captivating closer to a familiar, feel-good set.

Show opener
Chris Isaak was crooning and cutting up well before the announced 8 p.m. start time. Many were still mulling over Nicks merchandise and standing in line for beer and nachos.

His 70-minute set teetered toward alt-country, but it was peppered with rock, blues and plenty of wry comedy. He tore the front of his pants early in the evening and jokingly tried to cover the hole with his pink jacket and a stage towel. "The kids are getting scared," Isaak cracked. "Mommy!"

Moody breakout tune Wicked Game drew cheers of familiarity, its guitar still sexy and evocative. And Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing (famously used in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut) should have been--but wasn't--another monster smash.

Isaak's voice is a wonder: low and smoky one minute, high and piercing the next. He played up the Roy Orbison influence with a sincere take on Only the Lonely and had the crowd singing along to Cheap Trick's I Want You To Want Me. (Both are on a recently issued Best Of collection.)

He tempered the noirish Blue Hotel with a light touch--literally. As his band Silvertone started the song, Isaak sauntered onstage in a discoball suit that reflected light from every angle. It was the perfect encapsulation of Isaak's crazy-sexy-cool
credo
.

NEW Date added to Stevie's Tour


A new date has been added to the Crystal Visions Tour:

Thursday - July 26th - Paso Robles , CA - Mid-state Fair

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Stevie Nicks - Red Rocks Review (Denver Post)


In Nicks of time, Isaak pulls double bill into 2007

By Ricardo Baca
Denver Post Pop Music Critic
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated:05/30/2007 03:21:09 PM MDT

Stevie Nicks - the rock star of few facial expressions - is nowhere near her prime.

The singer-songwriter who gained fame via Fleetwood Mac and furthered her career through a successful solo outing can't help being a little bit of an anachronism.

She's a legend from another decade, and while some of her music stands the test of time, most of it falls into the category of so-1980s. It doesn't help that her witchy wardrobe, including the free-flowing, black get-up she wore Monday night at Red Rocks, looks like something out of an episode of "Electric Company" or "Charmed."

While Nicks has refused to conform to many modern trends, don't ever let her rabid fans hear you call her anything but a goddess. Her fan base is one of those notorious groups - not all that unlike Jimmy Buffet's "Parrotheads" - known for their unconditional love. And as they applauded and worshiped their way through Nicks' co-headlining set Monday night, they failed to recognize the singer's main fault, which is her inability to move into the contemporary realm.

Nicks was one of the great American songwriters, but then she failed to evolve. Songs like "Landslide" and "Stand Back" remain powerful tracks. But as she sang "Stand Back" at the beginning of her set Monday night, the song's aged sentiment was obvious. About an hour into her set, "Landslide" encouraged an impressive singalong, but it was the only song of the night that resonated with any honesty in 2007.

And even then, it was obvious she was just going through the motions.

More entertaining was the always-effervescent Chris Isaak, who co-headlined the evening. His songs "Wicked Game" and "Somebody's Cryin"' were thoughtful meditations on love in the 21st century.

He later covered Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me" and Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel," but they weren't nearly as exciting as his own "Bad Bad Thing" and the humor that littered his set. Isaak, sporting a hot-pink suit and later a mirror suit on Monday, stole the show with his very modern charm and affability.

Nicks, with a ribbony mic stand that looked as if it had been through a long Mardi Gras weekend, was left telling stories about the early '80s. The most modern element of her time on stage was the set-opening intro of a Destiny's Child song that heavily sampled "Edge of Seventeen." That actual song ended up unimpressively closing her set.

Contact pop music critic Ricardo Baca at 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Crystal Visions Sales To Date

Date / Chart # / Sales / Total Sales

04/14/07 #21 - 33,944
04/21/07 #52 - 20,884 = 54,828
04/28/07 #49 - 13,384 = 68,212
05/05/07 #71 - 9,687 = 77,899
05/12/07 #73 - 9,531 = 87,430
05/19/07 #91 - 7,829 = 95,259
05/26/07 #116 - 7,421 = 102,680
06/02/07 #138 - 5,535 = 108,215
06/09/07 #131 - 5,705 = 113,920

Stand Back Morgan Page Vocal Mix

Here is Track #6 from the promo disc: Stand Back - Morgan Page Vocal Mix. I like this one although the vocals on it seem a little to upfront from the music.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Jumping Directly To Gig With Fleetwood Mac


Conservatory graduates Phil Nichols (left) and John Haley (right) bookend Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac and Engineer Mark Needham.

Imagine stepping out of recording school and having your first session be with Fleetwood Mac. That's exactly what happened to CRAS students John Haley and Phil Nichols. Haley and Nichols found saw their ship come in at Cornerstone Studios where they both were interning after graduating from the Conservatory.

"They were amazingly well-prepared, considering the situation we've thrown them into," remarked mix engineer Mark Needham, of Cake, Chris Isaak, and Elton John fame. "You've got 112 tracks of Pro Tools, a 48-track Sony 3348 digital machine, analog decks, and Neve automation all to lock up. They've handled every task I gave them, which is pretty sharp."

Student Phil Nichols comments. "I felt confident coming to work here in LA. The instructors made it clear exactly how it would be in the real world. They have the experience and want to make sure that you understand that and are prepared. In class, in sessions, in tutoring, the entire approach gives us a good foundation for working in the real world of recording music."

"The whole process of learning and coming up now is different than it was 20 years ago," explained Lindsey Buckingham "when rock and roll and the world around it were not as organized. There was a certain amount of luck, and I think you need the same amount of luck now, or even more. But there was also a certain amount of spontaneity that came from a lack of real understanding of what is correct and what isn't in the recording process. There is probably a good side and a bad side to having all of that harnessed, but I do admire the younger kids who are going in an learning a lot more, in a real sense of having a context of what it means to a broader understanding of music, and the techniques involved in recording music. I think that can only be a good thing. It certainly doesn't insure success anymore, though. It's just tough out there."

Haley offered the following advice: "Work harder than the guy who came before you. You are still proving yourself, so you have to have a really good work ethic. Be willing to put in lots of extra hours, all the time. You will be on the job as much as possible. Do your best to really help out."

Lindsey Buckingham Sundance Film Festival


WE Network Special Celebrates Confluence of Music and Film
Artists of Today, Tomorrow and All-Time Bring Four Special Nights of Music to Households Nationwide

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Sundance Film Festival may be known as the ultimate destination for independent film, but come Monday, June 4, at 10 p.m. EDT (9 p.m. CDT), the musical experience of Park City, Utah, comes to households nationwide as WE: Women’s Entertainment presents, “Park City: Where Music Meets Film, Presented by ZonePerfect® Nutrition Bars.”

Filmed in high-definition for four nights during the acclaimed festival, the intimate and mostly acoustic sets by Joss Stone, Sean Lennon, Lindsey Buckingham, Joan Osborne, Daniel Powter, Jonny Lang and others celebrate the unique and powerful relationship between film and music.

Grammy Award winning artist and producer Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds hosts the one-hour special, which intermixes documentary-style interviews and live performances set against the backdrop of the renowned Sundance Film Festival. Artist support filled the audience of A-list celebrities including Cuba Gooding Jr., Jessica Biel and Utah’s own Donny Osmond.

“Music has a profound impact on the film viewing experience,” said Edmonds. “It’s what makes a good film great, and a great film timeless. ‘Park City: Where Music Meets Film’ celebrates that one powerful idea with some of the hottest and most talented performers on stage today.”

“This was a truly successful event for everyone involved,” says executive producer Art Ford. “The artists, the producers, and sponsor, the great folks at ZonePerfect®, are able to reach their shared audience in this intimate atmosphere. Now all of America can share in the same experience with this television special.”

STARS
Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds
Joss Stone
Lindsey Buckingham
Sean Lennon
Joan Osborne
Shawn Colvin
Jonny Lang
Daniel Powter
Marc Broussard
Stanley Jordan
Shelby Lynne
Keb' Mo'
Bird York
Monte Montgomery

PRODUCER
Kenny Griswold
Dave Phillips
Art Ford
Michael McNamara

DIRECTOR
Michael McNamara

PRESENTING SPONSOR
ZonePerfect Nutrition(R) Bars

Monday, May 21, 2007

STEVIE NICKS - Greek Theatre - Los Angeles


May 21, 2007 03:57 PM
by Paul Gargano
LiveDaily Contributor

If Stevie Nicks could choose the perfect setting to perform her mystical passions of life and love, it very well may be the Greek Theater. Nestled amidst the sprawling greenery of Griffith Park in the Hollywood Hills, the venue played host to a crowd of nearly 6,000 Saturday night (5/19), the first of two sold-out nights in Los Angeles and only the second stop on the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman's current "Crystal Visions" solo tour.
Despite the 10-piece band that joined her onstage for the duration of the 14-song, 100-minute set, it may have been the towering trees that line the amphitheater that contributed the most color to the evenings proceedings, the softly-lit leaves rustling in the light spring breeze and offering an ambient backdrop to Nicks' retrospective night of classic rock and iconic pop.

"The real 'Crystal Vision' in my life is all of you, and I thank you for staying with me all these years. Now let's rock…" she casually said following the pulse of opener "Stand Back," offering her first of many chatty interludes. "Dreams" appropriately followed, one of the night's more buoyant pop excursions and also the track that features the title line of her newly released hits collection.

While more than half of the night's set could be found on the new "Crystal Visions" best-of set, the night wasn't all obvious hits, with fan favorite "Leather and Lace" absent and lesser-known piano ballad "Beauty and the Beast" serving as a grand and dramatic finale. With her long, blonde hair pulled up for the first time all night and classic black-and-white footage from Jean Cocteau's 1946 French film of the same name, "Le Belle Et La Bete," Nicks' closed the night with a song that explored the gray area within life's black and white extremes--a theme she had frequented throughout the performance.

Introducing "Sorcerer," which she recalled writing nearly 25 years ago, Nicks commented that the song captured both the "scary and fantastic" aspects of living in Los Angeles in the early '70s. Later in the set, she reminisced that "Fall From Grace" was both "the most loving and meanest song I've ever written."

The glue that held the set together was Nicks' vocals, her textured rasp adding imperfect yet inescapably comforting warmth, whether during the soft tenderness of her signature "Rhiannon," the middle-of-the-road country tone of "Enchanted," or the more animated hard-rock timbre of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

While she didn't dust off the Tom Petty-penned "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" from her solo debut ["Bella Donna," 1981], Nicks did dedicate a cover of his "I Need To Know" to her friend and recent tour mate, longtime guitarist Waddy Wachtel, who took advantage of some rare time in the spotlight.

The band--Wachtel was joined by guitarist Carlos Rios, bassist Al Ortiz, drummer Jimmy Paxon; piano player Cornell Thigpen and organist Ricky Peterson; Fleetwood Mac percussionist Lenny Castro; and backing vocalists Lori Nicks, Jana Anderson and Sharon Salani--was dutiful with the arrangements, seldom stepping outside Nicks' shadow.

Thigpen accompanied Nicks on the into to "Rhiannon," the vocalists played their part during the acoustic "Landslide," and Paxon and Castro soloed from "Still of the Night" into the intro to "Edge of Seventeen," which featured Wachtel riding his dominant riff throughout the song. As if by plan, though, they all blended rather reverently into the background, doing just enough to create a musical blanket for Nicks to wrap her vocals around.

That provided everything the enthralled crowd could have asked for, and sometimes more, as their "Gold Dust Woman" wove her musical incantations into the night. It was a night atypical of Hollywood's storied pomp and circumstance, and more fitting of Nicks' legacy as rock's reigning Queen. She delivered like royalty.


Setlist:
"Stand Back"
"Dreams"
"If Anyone Falls in Love"
"Rhiannon"
"Enchanted"
"Sorcerer"
"Gold Dust Woman"
"I Need To Know"
"Landslide"
"Fall From Grace"
"Still of the Night"
"Edge of Seventeen"
(encore)
"Rock and Roll"
"Beauty and the Beast"

Friday, May 18, 2007

OFF THE RECORD with Joe Benson


Sunday (May 20th) OFF THE RECORD with Joe Benson will feature the music of — and Joe's brand new conversation with — Stevie Nicks.

Off The Record Site for a list of stations that will be streaming this broadcast