Saturday, July 02, 2011

STEVIE NICKS is adamant Fleetwood Mac will continue touring as long as they physically can

by Ross Purdie, AAP Entertainment Writer
The West Australian
July 1, 2011

SYDNEY, AAP - There's a comedic irony in the fact that Fleetwood Mac's music is resonating among a new generation of fans addicted to Glee.


The kids might not be singing so giddily if they flashed back to the years when members were at each others' throats, snorting mountains of cocaine or engaging in illicit affairs.


At the centre of it all was Stevie Nicks, who admits she's been a fan of Glee since its beginnings. She spent a day on set of the show describing the "temperature of the times" before Gwyneth Paltrow was allowed to get her lips around Landslide.

Despite acknowledging that Paltrow is ten times the role model Fleetwood Mac will ever be, she's delighted children are loving the songs.

"Hopefully they're taking away the good part," she says over the phone from her home in Los Angeles.

"Amidst all the muck of what happened with us there was a spectacular amount of good that came out of it and looking back now it doesn't seem as bad.

"But it's true what they say that sometimes it's more fun to tell a story than to live it."

To say Fleetwood Mac share a complicated history is an understatement equal to suggesting Nicks knew how to party.

She joined the band in 1974 with guitarist and boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, later lamenting their split in the song Dreams before having an affair with drummer Mick Fleetwood.

After releasing the 40 million-selling album Rumours in 1977 Nicks shared a massive drug problem with the band until she collapsed into the Betty Ford clinic in 1986.

Now a solo singer as well as touring with Fleetwood Mac, the 62-year-old would take none of it back. She believes her addiction first to cocaine, then for eight years to a tranquilliser prescribed as a replacement, made her a better artist.

"Even through all the break-ups and chaos we were all still writing like crazy and from a writer's point of view you can't ask for better than that," she says.

"Great art usually comes out of great tragedy. You just have to know how to use it."

Nicks admits there were countless times Fleetwood Mac almost split up, coming closest in 1979 during the recording of the album Tusk.

Nicks was six months into a relationship with Fleetwood when she discovered he'd shacked up with her best friend Sara Recor. It later inspired the song Sara.

"That was bad and even Lindsey who of course hated the idea that me and Mick were having a fling thought that was pretty crappy," Nicks says.

"Sara was banished from the studio and I didn't speak to Mick for months. The fact he was the drummer and not a writer was perhaps his saving grace but everyone was mad at him and that could have brought down the whole band."

Friday, July 01, 2011

STEVIE NICKS HAS A NEW ALBUM

"In Your Dreams" is now her favorite 

Stevie Nicks has a lot to be thankful for. When we met the former Fleetwood Mac singer in Los Angeles this spring, she had just finished a sold-out show at the Wiltern Theatre, where she celebrated her 63rd birthday with an adoring crowd. She also had just released In Your Dreams, her first album in a decade — and her favorite from her storied solo career — to critical acclaim and a top 10 slot on the Billboard charts.

The album covers a wide range of subjects, from vampires to the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe, and one of the highlights of the album, "Soldier's Angel," focuses on Nicks' thanks for and support of injured troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

At the suggestion of a friend, Nicks first visited injured soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., in 2005. "I walked out of there after 11 hours, at 2 in the morning," she says, "and I knew I would never be the same." Since, she's returned many times, often with iPods filled with music for patients, and she's invited troops to her concerts when she's performed nearby.

She knew she wanted to include a song in tribute to them on her new album, but she was having a hard time finishing the arrangement in the studio. "Finally", she says, "I told Dave, (Stewart, the former Eurythmic and producer of In Your Dreams) ‘I've gotta call Lindsay.'" Lindsay, of course, is Lindsay Buckingham, her band mate in Fleetwood Mac and long time former love. The result is a haunting arrangement, featuring Buckingham alone on guitar and backing vocals, putting a spotlight on Nicks' voice and lyrics. "I want the song to draw attention to what happens to the soldiers when they come home, and their aftercare," she says. "That's why I say I am a soldier's girl — it means I'm supportive of them. Publishing royalties from the song will go to the soldiers."

At the Wiltern, she stops the show and tells the audience the story of her involvement at Walter Reed, and how important the song and the troops' families are to her. To thundering applause, Buckingham then comes out to play "Soldier's Angel," and it's clearly one of the highlights of the evening.

As for the album as a whole, Nicks is reflective and proud. "I felt like I touched on so many subjects. From vampires to "Italian Summer", which was written in the mid-70's, these songs are so off the wall in how different they are. You usually stay on the same thread, and this record goes everywhere. Still, I feel I did exactly what I set out to do. Dave and I made a promise to each other the record was not coming out until we knew it was done. And it's done!"

by: Bill Bentley | from: AARP | June 28, 2011

"Get a Job" Mick Fleetwood Movie set to screen at Las Vegas Film Festival

Get a Job 
(Feature, 90 min, US) 
Sunday, July 17 at 3:35 pm – Hilton Theater
Starring Willie K, Henry Kapono, Jake Shimabukuro, Amy Hanaiali'i, and Eric Gilliom, along with internationally recognized stars such as Mick Fleetwood, Willie Nelson, and Pat Simmons of the Doobie Brothers.

Hawaii's most popular entertainers and musicians star in a madcap comedy with heart about an employment agent whose life turns inside out when he tries to help a simpleton who surfs everyday in a place where there are no waves.

The Las Vegas Film festival runs July 15-17, 2011 at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel 

3AW Re-listen to the "Uncut Interview" between @DenisWalter3aw & Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks and 'Honey' Walter 
The uncut interview between Denis Walter of 3AW Melbourne, AU and Stevie Nicks can be heard HERE.  Stevie spoke to Denis yesterday (July 1st in Australia) about the new album In Your Dreams, how Australia influenced the beginning of the album... Working with her new "Guru" Dave Stewart and how much fun she's had... LISTEN (pop-up) 

1 Hour Stevie Nicks Documentary Coming Up Saturday 2pm on @smoothradio UK

Smooth Radio out of the UK have put together a One Hour Documentary on Stevie Nicks that will air this Saturday at 2pm UK time... Listen Live at Smooth Radio

Also Mark Goodier interview Stevie Nicks recently... You can re-listen to a portion of the interview in the "Mark Goodier Best Bits July 1, 2011" at Smooth Radio. I suspect the full interview will be up on their site in the future to re-listen to, it's not there yet.  In the Best Bits Stevie talks abit about writing "For What It's Worth" in Maui and her niece Jessie hearing it for the first time... Check it out HERE

Ticketek & Ticketmaster Presale Tickets - Stevie Nicks & Dave Stewart Live in Australia

Buying tickets to 
Stevie Nicks 
and Dave Stewart 
Live in Australia??

McManus Entertainment, the tour promoterm, has passed along the password for the presale on Ticketek and Ticketmaster. You have to act fast, the presale lasts just one day with general tickets going on sale July 6th.

Password: LANDSLIDE Get tickets on Ticketek or Ticketmaster

If you are in Australia it might be a good idea to follow McManus Entertainment on Facebook  | Twitter  | Web for upcoming tour info for Stevie in Australia including prizes and contests.