Rock legend Mick Fleetwood and rising artist Nicole Atkins swap tales of heartbreak, songwriting and legendary tour adventures in the first episode of Cabo Wabo's Off The Record Series. Watch Mick and Nicole bond over a bottle of tequila and perform a song live in Mick's hometown of Maui.
Mick Fleetwood (founder of Fleetwood Mac) talks about the ups and downs of his classic rock band, notoriously plagued with drama and issues. He shares one particularly insane story about the night the band took acid with the Grateful Dead. That night almost ended very badly.
Mick Fleetwood Talks 'Off the Record' & Supergroup With Steven Tyler
Billboard Magazine
by Gary Graff, Detroit
On paper, Mick Fleetwood would appear to play the sagely mentor and Nicole Atkins the eager padawan for the initial episode of "Off the Record," a new music and conversation series that debuts today (Oct. 11) on sponsor Cabo Wabo's YouTube channel. But Fleetwood says their summit meeting in Hawaii went quite another way.
"Nicole is not just someone who is gloriously talented and maybe totally unknowing or super-innocent in terms of what she's getting into -- or what she was already in," Fleetwood tells Billboard.com. "I would probably have been worth half a damn with some decent commentary that might have been helpful, but we did not go there because she was not one of those people. It was so apparent she didn't need any of that at all, so we went into, in essence, another level of dialogue, which was great."
The show finds Fleetwood and Atkins essentially interviewing each other, with Fleetwood focusing on "how you hang onto...and reaffirm your personal integrity with what you're doing" and Atkins fishing for some vintage Fleetwood Mac stories out of the percussionist. Fleetwood was also surprised and pleased that Atkins "had a real awareness of early Fleetwood Mac, which... was really mind-blowing for someone that young."
Continue at Billboard Magazine
Cabo Wabo's "Off the Record" With Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins
Sean Hotchkiss
GQ.com
Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo tequila is launching a new series, today, called "Off the Record," which takes an up-and-coming musician and pits them with one of the greats to talk shop, inspiration, careers, and so forth. The first installment features Mick Fleetwood, and American singer/songwriter Nicole Atkins, over three days at Fleetwood's new restaurant and hangout spot in Maui. We had the chance to talk to Fleetwood about "Off the Record," Fleetwood Mac's upcoming 2012 tour, tequila, and how Atkins, on occasion, remembered more from the old days than he did...
GQ: When did you start coming to Maui?
Mick Fleetwood: I started going to Maui right after we finished the first album with Stevie and Lindsay on board, Fleetwood Mac. We all came to Maui, late 1973, and I never stopped coming.
GQ: You could ask this about anywhere, but has it changed a lot?
Fleetwood: It has certainly changed, but I have no problem with it. Some people get up in arms about it, 'oh well there used to be pineapple fields there, and now they're houses. I get it. But it's so beautiful, and so powerful. It's like talking about New Orleans, saying, 'oh, well I knew it back in the heyday, the 50s, watching the jazz scene unfold, sure, but in my opinion if you go to such a place, the spot itself is so powerful, no matter how many t-shirt shops there are and how many tourist spots exist, it's still Bourbon street and it still has that power, that vibe, it transcends anything that has come up around it. The essence of what it was and continues to be, still resonates.
GQ: Let's talk about the series, "Off the Record," of which you and Nicole Atkins are the first feature...
Fleetwood: Cabo Wabo was started by an old friend of mine, Sammy Hagar. When I heard about the "Off the Record" series, I was immediately listening, because of that fact. The series itself is sort of a sponsoring series, and a mentoring series for up-and-coming or 'emerging' talent, which drew me in. In honesty, I'm opening a restaurant here in Maui called Fleetwood's, so there was a certain sense of business-centric plug-in for us, as well. (The first sit-down took place here). Sammy came to Maui and phoned me up, and I said, 'it's so strange you're calling me now, I've just spoken with your company, Cabo Wabo, about possibly taking part in this mentoring series,' and he said, 'yes, you should do it. No, in fact, you have to do it.' [Laughs] The series has become everything it proposed to be. It was about choosing some artists from a younger generation: Cabo had put together some great research, and I started listening and doing my homework on Nicole, whom I had no idea who she was before this program. Which, I think I was happy about, because it meant I was looking at her in fresh way, without any preconceived knowledge.
Continue at GQ.com
Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins Come Together to Launch Cabo Wabo(R) Tequila's Off The Record Conversation Series
The Original Rock 'n Roll Tequila Partners Rock Royalty with Rock's Future To Share Untold Stories of Music Industry Beginnings
PRESS RELEASE
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 11, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Mick Fleetwood, founder of chart colossus Fleetwood Mac, and singer-songwriter ingenue, Nicole Atkins, have been tapped as the first acts to front the Off The Record music conversation series presented by Cabo Wabo(R) Tequila, founded by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Sammy Hagar. The double-act came together in Mick's hometown of Maui, at his new bar Fleetwood's on Front Street (opening early 2012), to share tales of career beginnings, legendary nights on stage, song inspirations, tour secrets and rumored band romances. Their musical journey together was captured on video for Off The Record, and will launch through Cabo Wabo's YouTube page on October 11th at www.YouTube.com/CaboWabo
Cabo Wabo's Off The Record series pairs rock royalty with buzzworthy emerging artists for an intimate one-on-one conversation, captured on film, giving the viewer a personal, behind-the-scenes view into a life in rock and roll. Off The Record allows music aficionados a chance to get the inside track on the untold stories of the musician's experience.
Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins make for a fascinating introduction to the Off The Record program as they both epitomize the grandeur of blues and rock. Riffing off comparisons with Fleetwood Mac front-woman, Stevie Nicks, and following her recent cover of the band's hit, "Oh Well," Nicole takes Mick to task on the greatness of Fleetwood Mac, amongst his other achievements. Taken en masse, Fleetwood Mac's oeuvre can enchant purists, pop fans and stars alike. Nicole confesses: "Stevie Nicks has had a large influence on my own songwriting and made me comfortable with my singing voice. Fleetwood Mac is that band that is able to write timeless hits with a serious dark side. That's what I strive for in my songs - a contrast between the light and dark."
Equally attuned to the experience of love gone bad, Mick turns the tables on New Jersey-born Nicole. Her new album, Mondo Amore, was hatched in a time of extreme turbulence, a period which saw her parting ways with her former music label while also dealing with the painful termination of "a relationship that should've ended two years before it actually did." Nicole cites blues and classic 60s psychedelic rock as longtime influences, a sound which Fleetwood Mac dabbled in early on. Not only does Mick probe Nicole about the genesis of what New York Times calls her "surrealistic songs" and Rolling Stone her "forceful...melancholy," he uncovers the driving force behind her music and her lifelong passion to perform.
Mick adds, "The series is something long overdue and highly invaluable to aspiring musicians and music fans alike. Bringing together musicians of varying ages and genres to discuss common experiences gives a one-of-a-kind insight into our craft and world. Not only will people get to see myself and Nicole improvise a little on stage, but there will also be enough rock 'n roll capers to split a band! It's only fitting that this should all be played out over a shot of Cabo Wabo, my tried-and-true companion when making music in my new bar, Fleetwood's on Front Street."
Founder of Cabo Wabo, Sammy Hagar, comments, "Cabo Wabo Tequila's association with rock music is well known and we have always been strong supporters of new artists. Off The Record is another program like Cabo's Your Shot To Rock contest, aimed at finding the top unsigned rock bands in America, and aide in moving them forward to become rock stars. Having my friend and legend Mick Fleetwood in the mix, Cabo Wabo adds a new dimension to finding and spurring new artists to greater rock and roll heights."
Founded nearly 15 years ago by rock legend Sammy Hagar, Cabo Wabo is the original Rock 'n Roll Tequila. Cabo Wabo Tequila is handcrafted from 100-percent Blue Agave creating tequilas perfect for sipping, shooting or mixing. Cabo Wabo comes in three distinctly different core marques. Whether you like the smooth unadulterated agave flavor of our Blanco, the rich peppery taste of our Reposado or the vanilla and caramel nose in our AnIejo, Cabo Wabo Tequila will have you screaming for an encore.
Editor's Notes
The Off The Record music conversation video series featuring Mick and Nicole will be aired on the 11th of October at www.YouTube.com/CaboWabo and www.cabowabo.com . You can also rock with Mick Fleetwood and Nicole Atkins at Cabo Wabo at www.Facebook.com/CaboWabo
Wow. I'm officially blown away.
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