STEVIE NICKS INFO

Category: SXSW 2013

  • SXSW Interview: Stevie Nicks

    By Abby Johnston
    Austin Chronicle
    Friday, March 15, 2013

    “I will always be a witch.” Sure, she was talking about a Halloween costume, but that statement toward the end of Stevie Nicks’ hourlong interview summed up many lingering notions about the Fleetwood Mac songstress. Like her mystery, her flamboyance, and yes, her entanglements with the male libido. NPR’s Ann Powers posed questions, but the verbose Nicks needed little prompting. She wound in both her solo career and time with the fabled band, at times erring to a sleepover-style boy dish. Continual jabs at Lindsey Buckingham (“Oh, Lindsey likes to lock himself in a studio and make records no one hears.”) and waxing about Dave Stewart seemed to miss the point. For an icon to many women, this kind of quintessential trait might have disappointed, but the fire in her eyes when she ripped off her sunglasses for the first time only came when she talked about the feminist movement. The phrase “woman in a man’s world” popped into Powers’ questions repeatedly, but it has less to do with Nicks’ existence in a music business dominated by men than with the world she created for herself – magical, mystical, and maybe a little narcissistic. And that’s the way we like her.

  • Stevie Nicks sprinkles some solid-gold dust at Sound City concert

    Stevie Nicks sprinkles some solid-gold dust at Sound City concert

    2013-0314-sxsw-stubbs-jannBy Timothy Finn
    Kansas City Star
    Friday, March 15, 2013

    AUSTIN, Texas — Dave Grohl has been a busy man in Austin.

    He has been promoting Sound City: Real to Reel, the documentary he produced about the recording studio in southern California, which has had several showings during the South by Southwest Music Fest here.

    Thursday morning, he delivered the festival’s keynote speech. And Thursday night, he and several of his fellow Foo Fighters were the house band for the Sound City Players, an ensemble of performers who have recorded at Sound City and who gathered for a performance before a full house at Stubbs.

    The three-hour plus show featured several high-proflle artists, such as Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick and Rick Springfield, plus Lee Ving of the punk band Fear. During a set by Chris Goss of Masters of Reality, Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine and now Black Sabbath sat in on drums,

    After an opening set by Alain Johannes, a Queens of the Stone Age collaborator, Nicks took the stage.

    She and Grohl launched into “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” with Grohl taking Tom Petty’s vocal parts. After that, Nicks introduced a new song she’d written, “You Can’t Fix This,” a dour ballad that temporarily lost the crowd of about 3,000.

    She got it back immediately with a few of her best-known songs: “Dreams”; “Landslide,” which featured Grohl on 12-string acoustic guitar and which prompted a heartwarming sing-along throughout the huge venue; and “Gold Dust Woman.”

    That one ended with a long, raucous instrumental that brought out the beasts in Grohl and Foo Fighter drummer Taylor Hawkins.

    Ving followed Goss’ set, growling through several high-speed hardcore punk songs in what seemed like a minute or less for each. Springfield would follow Ving with some of his Top 40 bromides, a sign of how diverse a setlist Grohl and his band had to learn and the breadth of artists who recorded beloved albums at Sound City.

  • SXSW: Stevie Nicks name drops Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Grace Slick, plus Fleetwood Mac, during historical interview session

    SXSW: Stevie Nicks name drops Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Grace Slick, plus Fleetwood Mac, during historical interview session

    SXSW_StevieNicks 5160 Landis.jpg
    NPR’s Ann Powers interviews rock legend Stevie Nicks at the Austin Convention Center during SXSW 2013. (Photo by Ashley Landis)

    By Mario Tarradell
    Dallas News
    Thursday, March 14, 2013 11:07 pm

    AUSTIN – Stevie Nicks name dropped Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Grace Slick during her SXSW Interview Thursday afternoon with moderator Ann Powers of NPR. From Joplin, she got the flamboyance and the attitude. Hendrix gave her humility and grace. Slick provided the slinky elegance.

    “Those are the three people that I emulated for who I was going to be onstage,” said Nicks in her trademark black attire and dark sunglasses as she sat inside the Austin Convention Center.

    Nicks, in her trademark black, talked about her career for an hour (Ashley Landis/Special Contributor)
    Nicks, in her trademark black, talked about her career for an hour (Ashley Landis)

    She wanted to mix feminine and masculine attributes without forgetting to be elegant. For an hour Nicks conversed with Powers as a packed room watched and listened attentively. The legendary female rocker, one of the most influential women in music of the last four decades, has been especially visible in the last two years. Her 2011 solo effort In Your Dreams spawned a tour that stopped at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie. She also has a documentary of the same name that chronicles the recording of the majestic disc with producer Dave Stewart. Plus, she’s in SXSW keynote speaker Dave Grohl’s labor-of-love documentary Sound City: Real to Reel.

    But the gist of the Nicks interview was historical. She talked about Fleetwood Mac, naturally, particularly about the harmonious artistic blend of Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and herself. There were each intent on harmony, working diligently to develop the three-part harmony that characterized the modern-day Mac sound. They each approached songwriting differently, which in turn proved mutually complimentary. There was plenty of time devoted to her solo career, particularly her pivotal solo debut 1981′s Bella Donna. Nicks approached her solo album as a way to give a home to her compositions that didn’t fit the group dynamics. But she admits that her band mates were nervous that she’d find success alone and then exit stage left.

    “They were so terrified that I would do that record and then I would quit,” she said. “I really had to convince them that I’m not going anywhere.”

    She’s still with Fleetwood Mac 32 years later. The band comes to Dallas’ American Airlines Center June 4. And what’s the secret of Nicks’ longevity, the magic potion that keeps her voice sturdy after nightly abuse during the heady ’70s and ’80s? Vocal exercises. She demonstrated by doing nonsensical vocalizations that sounded like on-pitch baby gurgling.

    Even elegant rockers need to keep training.

  • SXSW interview: Stevie Nicks

    SXSW interview: Stevie Nicks

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    (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

    By Chad Swiatecki
    Austin 360
    Thursday, March 14, 2013, 7:06 p.m.

    If you’re an interviewer you don’t keep famed rock singer Stevie Nicks on a short leash. The better move is to think of a question or topic like a stick thrown to a dog; she’ll chase after its general direction but the chances of the stick being retrieved are about 50/50. Thankfully, there aren’t many interview subjects who are as interesting to watch wander as Nicks, as National Public Radio journalist Ann Powers learned Thursday evening during a talk that saw the singer cover the early days of Fleetwood Mac, her relationship with Lindsey Buckingham, her songwriting partnership with Christine McVie and Buckingham, and how she came to work with Dave Stewart on her new album In Your Dreams.

    On her and Buckingham joining Fleetwood Mac: Nicks (whose all black ensemble and sunglasses lent to her mystical reputation) said the band based its decision on bringing her and Buckingham on board on whether McVie approved of Nicks. Talking about the entire group’s introductory dinner at a Mexican restaurant, she recalled a pair of Cadillacs pulling up outside with the Fleetwood Mac members and entourage pouring out, contrasted against her and Buckingham being dirt poor. “Christine and I got on like thieves … babbling like a gaggle of geese.”

    Soon after she and McVie started rehearsing for the group’s next album — 1975’s self-titled bestseller — with Nicks and Buckingham making the then-astronomical sum of $200 a week. “We hit the road in June and by October we each were millionaires.”

    On fitting into the male-dominated world of rock: “I said we can’t be treated like second-class citizens. When we walk into a room … we have to float in there like goddesses. It worked. The boys never went anywhere without us and we were always invited to the party.”

    Later, Nicks took her most serious tone of the hour-long talk when discussing the control many female artists have ceded to handlers and label directors after she and other female artist spent the ’70s and ’80s fighting to have their own say. Removing her sunglasses to make her point clear, she talked about her burgeoning desire to get actively involved in women’s equality on a political front.

    On working with McVie and Buckingham as songwriting partners: Powers astutely described the three writers’ roles as McVie being the maternal one, Buckingham being the “weird alpha male” one and Nicks serving as the bridge between the two. The singer agreed, saying McVie was responsible for hits like “Hold Me” and “Say That You Love Me,” with Buckingham doing what he could to rough up those pure pop creations with his rocker proclivities. “I sequenced Rumours so that one side is creepy and eerie and the other side is more poppy, to have two different experiences.”

    On drawing inspiration from literature and film: In one of the more interesting and revealing segments of the talk, Nicks talked about seeing her own life through the lens of works by Edgar Allen Poe (when she was a teenager), the classic tale of “Beauty and the Beast” and the recent film adaptation Anna Karenina, its lessons “about what obsessive love can do” about how after seeing it she was “ready to go to the grand piano with white candles. I’m not Anna. I’ve been there and I don’t want to be there again. It got me misery, unhappiness, two or three years to get over it and bad karma. You learn; don’t mess with a married man.” Later on she offered, “I’ve already written about that and I will write about it again.

  • Stevie Nicks promotes documentary at SXSW

    Stevie Nicks promotes documentary at SXSW

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    Dave Stewart and Stevie Nicks arrive on the red carpet at SXSW. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

    By Bettie Cross
    KEYE TV (Austin)
    Thursday, March 14 2013, 10:55 PM CDT

    Fleetwood Mac singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks is in Austin for SXSW. But, what brought her here might surprise you. The singer of “Landslide,,” “Dreams,” and “Edge of 17,” is getting a big welcome to SXSW, but this time it’s not for a concert. She’s in Austin promoting her long-awaited documentary, In Your Dreams.

    “It’s like your own reality TV,” said reporter Bettie Cross. “It was. It exactly was. And never would I have thought that because I don’t really love reality TC,” said Nicks. The documentary chronicles the making of her latest solo album, also called In Your Dreams. But, living with cameras 24/7 took some convincing from her collaborator, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame.

    “That means makeup, and kind of cool clothes, and no bunny slippers and he’s like darling if you don’t like it we won’t use it. And those were the words I needed to hear — if you don’t like it we won’t use it,” said Nicks.

    With the singer’s seal of approval, In Your Dreams is screening at SXSW and will debut in theaters April 2. She says it’s helping her stay relevant.

    “Do you hear your influence in the young music out today,” asked Cross.

    “Absolutely. I see like the Civil Wars and it’s like, oh, there’s Stevie and Lindsey 30 years ago,” said Nicks. Nicks says she also turns on the radio and hears herself in singers like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

    “Beyoncé she wrote, she took (hit single) ‘Edge of 17’ and wrote ‘Bootylicious’ from that. So she’s listening. And I know she’s listening. Of course, that’s the greatest compliment of all,” said Nicks.

    Stevie Nicks goes on tour with Fleetwood Mac in April. She says the harmony has never been better. The documentary, In Your Dreams, will be shown in Austin and theaters across the country on April 2. The Fleetwood Mac concert tour comes to Texas in June with stops in Dallas and Houston.

  • Dave Grohl, Stevie Nicks, Clive Davis all in one SXSW day

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    By Sharon Chapman and Charles Ealy
    American-Statesman
    Wednesday, March 13, 2013

    SXSW Music Thursday highlights

    Check sxsw.com for updates or changes in the schedule.

    Dave Grohl keynote. His “Sound City” documentary played Wednesday night during SXSW Film, and Thursday, Grohl delivers the 2013 Music keynote at 11 a.m. in Ballroom D of the Austin Convention Center. It’s open to badgeholders but will be streamed live at sxsw.com and npr.org. Grohl and his “Sound City” players, including Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Rick Springfield, Rick Nielsen, Krist Novoselic, Lee Ving, Corey Taylor, Brad Wilk, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett play at 8 p.m. Thursday at Stubb’s.

    Macklemore and Ryan Lewis signing. The rap duo, who are at everything this SXSW, are signing autographs. It’s in the Music Gear Expo Lounge 1:30 p.m. at the convention center and is free and open to the public.

    MTVU Woodie Awards/Festival. During the day, it’s a music festival. At night, the MTVU awards are handed out. Scheduled performers include the aforementioned Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Jake Bugg, Alt-J, among many more. 1:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday in a parking lot at East First and Red River streets. Free and open to the public, based on capactiy. Information: woodies.mtv.com.

    Flatstock. The poster show opens in Exhibit Hall 4 at the Austin Convention Center. It’s free and open to the public from 2-6 p.m.

    SXSW Interview: Clive Davis. The record producer and music mogul who recently released a tell-all book will talk with Bill Werde of Billboard Magazine. 2 p.m. Room 18ABC in the Convention Center.

    SXSW Interview: Kendrick Lamar. One of the breakouts of SXSW 2012 will talk with Elliott Wilson of Rap Radar. 3:30 p.m. Room 16AB in the Convention Center.

    SXSW Interview: Stevie Nicks. The Fleetwood Mac chanteuse is everywhere this year. She’s in her own documentary, “In Your Dreams,” and in Grohl’s “Sound City.” She’ll talk Thursday with NPR’s Ann Powers. 5 p.m. in Room 18ABC in the Convention Center.

    Auditorium Shores. The free public shows on the shores of Lady Bird Lake start 5 p.m. Thursday, with Jovanotti, Bajofondo, Molotov and Cafe Tacvba.

    SXSW Film Thursday highlights

    Co-directors Stevie Nicks and Dave Stewart walk the red carpet “In Your Dreams,” a new documentary about Nicks’ latest album. 2 p.m. Paramount.

    “Before You Know It,” directed by Austinite PJ Raval, explores the lives of older lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans. 3:45 p.m. Violet Crown.

    “Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker,” documentary explores the life and times of the piano legend. 4 p.m. Topfer Theatre at Zach.

    “All the Labor,” a documentary about the Austin cult band the Gourds. 4:15 p.m. Alamo Village.

    Snoop Lion and director Andy Capper walk the red carpet for the new documentary “Reincarnated.” 4:30 p.m. Paramount.

    “Finding the Funk,” a road trip documentary, looks at the James Brown bands of 1960s and Sly & the Family Stone. 7 p.m. Alamo Village.

    “A Band Called Death” looks at the Detroit punk band. 7:15 p.m. Vimeo.

  • Dave Grohl’s ‘Sound City Players’ head to SXSW

    Billboard
    Monday, March 4, 2013 4:29PM EST

    Dave Grohl isn’t just delivering a keynote at South By Southwest on March 14. The rocker is bringing an all-star concert to Austin that same evening with an exclusive show, “Sound City Players at SXSW,” at Stubb’s. The concert will be in support of the “Sound City” documentary and its accompanying soundtrack, “Sound City: Real To Reel,” which will be released two days prior on March 12. The event is presented by Citi Private Pass and Billboard is the exclusive media partner. New York-based agency MAC Presents brokered the deal.

    The Austin jam session is the latest in a series of performances this year that began at Sundance, with Citi sponsoring additional events in Los Angeles and New York. Confirmed performers include Grohl, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Rick Springfield, Lee Ving of Fear, Rick Nielsen, Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour, Chris Goss of Masters of Reality and Alain Johannes. The Meat Puppets will be the opening act.

    “We’re excited to bring Sound City to South by Southwest,” says Jennifer Breithaupt, Citi’s senior VP-experiential marketing. “It was great to be a part of the performances. They’ve all been collaborative and Dave Grohl is like a kid in the candy store playing with all these iconic musicians; it’s really, really neat to see.”

    Tickets for the event will go on sale Tuesday, March 5, at 4 p.m. ET to Citi consumer credit and debit cardmembers as a complimentary gift with a $25 purchase of the Sound City feature documentary Blu-Ray on CitiPrivatePass.com. Purchases will be limited to two per Citi member on a first-come, first-served basis. Select admission will be available to SXSW badgeholders via lottery. All attendees will also receive a complimentary copy of the soundtrack, courtesy of Citi.

    Guests will also be able to take their picture in a photo booth featuring Sound City‘s iconic amp as well as print custom T-shirts at Citi’s branded 1979 Chevy El Camino. Photo booth pictures uploaded on Instagram with the event hashtag #cititakesaustin will be printed onsite with a custom co-branded border and posted to an event microsite where fans can share their picture on Facebook or Twitter. “We’re always looking for ways to capture the unique content at the event and extend the experience outside the environment,” Breithaupt says.

  • Rumors Confirmed: Stevie Nicks at SXSW

    Rumors Confirmed: Stevie Nicks at SXSW

    2013-0308-sxswFleetwood Mac frontwoman stars in two SX Film docs and more

    By Raoul Hernandez
    Austin Chronicle
    Friday, March 1, 2013 12:47 p.m.

    Like Green Day on Monday, another South by Southwest confirmation came yesterday in Stevie Nicks, who bewitches the music conference in an interview with Ann Powers on Thursday, March 14, and also stars in a pair of SXSW Film docs.

    The Film spread in this week’s Chronicle, both ours and SXSW’s, spilled a wealth of information as far as music’s concerned. The Fest’s “24 Beats Per Second” music series revealed inside looks at Austin’s Gourds (All the Labor), New Oreleans piano prince James Booker (Bayou Maharajah), and Detroit’s black punk siblings Death (A Band Called Death), among many others, including free Auditorium Shores Mexicans Molotov (Gimme the Power).

    Nicks’ In Your Dreams, made by her and Eurythmics seer David Stewart during a 2010 collaboration on her album, also screens in the “24 Beats Per Second” round-up, Thu., March 14 at the Paramount Theatre. The night before, Wednesday, catch her in Dave Grohl’s Sound City, which throws back the curtain on an L.A. studio that birthed Nirvana’s Nevermind and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours.

    Tie-ins there are three: Nicks will guest in Grohl’s as-yet-unnanounced Sound City showcase; Fleetwood Mac’s new tour begins in April (with stops in Dallas on June 4, and then Houston the next day); and Rhino Records just reissued Rumours. Nicks’ appearance locally thus follows her Rumours co-star Lindsey Buckingham’s sold-out show at Antone’s last August and Rumours producer Ken Caillat in October for the Texas Book Festival.

    Sound City clusters in SX Film’s “Special Events,” which features more music tie-ins in Asleep at the Wheel Then and Now and Mabon “Teenie” Hodges – A Portrait of a Memphis Soul Original. I’ll never forget a newly-sober Chan Marshall (Cat Power) gushing in my ear about working with the Hodges brothers in 2006. Only because she already swung through the Moody last month is Cat Power not coming to SXSW this year like everyone else.

  • Stevie Nicks confirmed to speak at SXSW 2013 Festival at Austin Convention Center 3/14

    [vimeo http://vimeo.com/60756917]

    By Antoinette Ochoa
    MxDwn
    Friday, March 1, 2013

    Amanda Palmer isn’t the only speaker this year at SXSW 2013. Along with the amazing lineup that has been curated for this great annual event, an array of speakers have been arranged to give ears a break from music and see what goes on beyond the recording studio. Added to the list of famous speakers is the wonderful woman herself, Stevie Nicks. Read on for more details.

    Not only is Fleetwood Mac reuniting and touring this spring, but Stevie Nicks fans will be delighted to know that her interview is in regard to the recent documentary, In Your Dreams. The film goes through her journey as an artist while producing her latest album and engaging in creative collaborations with other talented musicians such as Dave Stewart. This interview is only one of many gems that will be found at the SXSW festival. As per the film description, make sure to grab a seat at this once in a lifetime event to witness the “Shifting dynamically among video formats, painstaking recording sessions and revealing interviews, magic-tinged musical journey [and] loving and tuneful portrait of the eternally bewitching Gold Dust Woman.”

  • Stevie Nicks to speak at SXSW Music

    Stevie Nicks to speak at SXSW Music

    2013-0308-sxsw

    The South By Southwest Music Conference proudly announces a very special interview with Stevie Nicks. The ever-evolving Nicks is in the middle of a whirlwind of activity this year. She is the subject of the documentary In Your Dreams telling the story of her latest album of the same title, including collaborations with Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. In Your Dreams is screening at the SXSW Film Festival. She is also featured in SXSW Keynote Dave Grohl’s Sound City documentary and singing in a series of shows Grohl is playing with veterans of the famed studio. Later this spring, Fleetwood Mac hits the road for a heavily anticipated world tour. These current projects are the latest chapter in an acclaimed career as a singer, songwriter and icon of rock music.

    The SXSW Interview with Stevie Nicks takes place in the Austin Convention Center at 5 PM on Thursday, March 14, closing out the day’s conference activities. This interview is open to all Music and Platinum badges as well as Artist Wristbands.

    Bobby / South by Southwest Music / Thursday, February 28, 2013