Rick Vito Participates in Country Article

[michelej1]

Vito is one of the people interviewed in this article as to whether country and Christina music is crushing innovation.

By Naomi Snyder, Tennessean.com

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20...AACLiHu5FMg%3D

Could Nashville's country and Christian music industry be crushing innovation? It sounds like a ridiculous question, were it not for the musicians who think it might be true.

"It's very much a songwriters town, but it seemed like if you weren't country, they weren't interested," said Rick Vito, a former Fleetwood Mac lead guitarist who left Nashville a year ago to move to Hawaii. He said he even had trouble getting session work in Nashville.

Sociologists have begun arguing about whether Nashville's music scene is really all that creative. Although the city has grown tremendously over the past few decades, in part because of the music industry, some say country music's dominance drowns out different sounds here and puts the future of the industry at risk.

Richard Florida, the sociologist who wrote about "the creative class" as such an important ingredient for economic growth and vitality, has written that Nashville "sucked up all the growth in the music industry" between 1970 and 2004, meaning it grew more than other cities in numbers of musicians.

That's a good thing.

Daniel Silver, however, a colleague of Florida's and professor at the University of Toronto, has ranked Nashville below Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York and even Portland, Ore., in terms of musical diversity. Even though Nashville dominates in terms of country, Christian, folk and acoustic and is strong in rock, according to Silver's measurements, it drops off substantially when it comes to anything else. Silver ranked the cities based on the size of the fan base for MySpace bands in a wide range of genres.

Innovation "does matter, if we want to grow the new acts that connect in interesting ways for the new 'one-to-one' customer relationship that is the Internet,'' writes David Herrera, an assistant professor of music at Belmont University.

He argues that the degree of innovation will be crucial to the music industry going forward, an industry that has been hit with declining sales worldwide, according to the IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.



Grammy-winning R&B producer and songwriter Shannon Sanders loves Nashville, grew up here and lives here now. He thinks country music has been great and has boosted the tourism industry.

He spends nearly half his time on the road, though, collaborating with other artists, writing, performing and producing.

"Country is so strong. Because country makes Nashville a home exclusively, it's almost a problem for everybody else," Sanders said. "You're going to always be a stepchild. It's good for the city. It's not good for you if you do anything other than country."

Vito came to Nashville in the mid-1990s from Los Angeles and said he got a "mild" reception from audiences and record labels here.

He left for Hawaii last year, but he is moving back to Nashville this week because his wife and daughter miss the town. He was scheduled to play the Ryman Auditorium on Saturday as part of Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night.

"I'm optimistic there's renewed energy now,'' Vito said. "I'm open. And things change, and hopefully it has a little bit."

Dig deep to find variety
Not everyone sees Nashville as unreceptive to new sounds.

There's a difference between what the major music labels want and the music "scene," or what the hopscotch of lively clubs and bars and musicians here will embrace, many say. And that's important for fueling innovation and creativity.

Mike "Grimey" Grimes runs The Basement, ground zero for the indie rock band scene in Nashville. He says he's running a profitable enterprise with 80 percent of the bands from Nashville. And he points out Nashville has home grown some successful rock bands like Kings of Leon and Paramore.

He said indie rock-band performers tour in country bands, and then come to places like The Basement to show off their other, less mainstream, musical talents.

"What we've created over here has been a conscious attempt to establish something outside of what's going on at Music Row,'' Grimes said. "As far as we're concerned, it almost doesn't exist."

But Herrera, the assistant professor of music at Belmont, thinks the dominant music industry does have an impact on innovation in Nashville.

"The core of innovation is risk and uniqueness — two traits not aligned with break-even analysis and profit,'' he wrote in an e-mail. "I would speculate that the more active the music industry is within any city, the more commercial and less innovative the music scene will be."

With a commercially minded outlook, he says, "even the local scene is more centered on the size of audience draw on any given night — rather than a community that encourages innovation and live music."

Silver, the Canadian professor, ranks Portland, Ore., higher than Nashville in terms of musical diversity.

Bands such as Pink Martini in Portland found success with unique sounds. Pink Martini plays lounge music with a twist; the band sings in multiple languages, including Spanish, French and even Croatian. It's sort of like listening to Lawrence Welk's show and wondering why the band is singing about skinheads. Pink Martini has sold nearly 2 million albums worldwide.

But John Allen, a vice president of publisher Bug Music in Nashville, said there are just as many innovative bands in Nashville as in Portland or any other moderately sized town.

For some, it's bizarre to assume that more electronica or jazz bands are needed to prove Nashville is creative.

"Just because you have a distorted, fuzz-out guitar, so what?" said Christopher Moon, who represents artists for Nettwerk Management in Nashville. "Yes, the industry is focused on country and Christian, but that doesn't mean you can't be eclectic and do great things in a different genre here."

Billy Cerveny, a founder of Brite Entertainment in Brentwood, which sells music through a $4.99-per- month digital subscription service, said there is more talent per square inch in Nashville than any other city he's seen.

He's critical of the music labels that "try to repeat the same formula until it wears itself out."

But he distinguishes between that and the variety of artists in Nashville.

"If you're anywhere in the world and you ask people interested in music where to go to experiment with music, I bet you Nashville is one of them," said Ralph Schulz, president and chief executive of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

He said Nashville is a "talent magnet" that draws musicians from around the world to communicate in ways that might be tougher in a bigger city.

Even Farnell Newton, an adjunct professor at Portland State University, concedes that Portland may be more diverse, but not necessarily more talented.

"That doesn't mean it's all that good," he said.

Mare Wakefield, a local Americana artist, moved from Eugene, Ore., and spent some time in Portland, so she can understand the argument that Portland is more avant garde.

But Nashville is a place where people are more dedicated to their music and very serious about it, she said.

"They work hard and they want to be good,'' she said. "I feel Nashville is a very creative town."

[OldTimer]

Thanks for the link Michele! ......but Oh No!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by michelej1

He left for Hawaii last year, but he is moving back to Nashville this week because his wife and daughter miss the town. He was scheduled to play the Ryman Auditorium on Saturday as part of Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night.

What an unexpected thing to read! If Rick leaves Hawaii behind to go back to Nashville, is that the sudden end of his involvement in the Island Rumours Band? And worse, the end of his fronting Mick's Blues Band? Mick always liked to say about the MFBB 'we all live on the island of Maui'..... and liked to point out that Rick moved his family there, and they had great musical plans for the coming years. So no new MFBB album to look forward to after all? It would be pretty hard to work on music from such opposite places!


And Rick even says, Nashville's a place where he hasn't exactly flourished....

Could Nashville's country and Christian music industry be crushing innovation? It sounds like a ridiculous question, were it not for the musicians who think it might be true.
"It's very much a songwriters town, but it seemed like if you weren't country, they weren't interested," said Rick Vito, a former Fleetwood Mac lead guitarist who left Nashville a year ago to move to Hawaii. He said he even had trouble getting session work in Nashville.

Vito came to Nashville in the mid-1990s from Los Angeles and said he got a "mild" reception from audiences and record labels here."I'm optimistic there's renewed energy now,'' Vito said. "I'm open. And things change, and hopefully it has a little bit."

Wow, he sounds so enthusiastic.

Yeah yeah, it's terrific he puts his family above his music...... But it's sure a downer for those of us who were anticipating more great music from Mick & Rick and the Hawaii crowd.

End of rant.

[vivfox]

NASHVILLE, July 19 (UPI) -- Musicians and sociologists alike say Nashville's music scene does not venture far from its traditional country and Christian music roots.

Sociologist Daniel Silver of the University of Toronto says when compared with the music scenes of Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York and Portland, Ore., Nashville's music scene offers a far less diverse scope of offerings, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported Sunday.

R&B songwriter Shannon Sander said country music
in particular remains a dominant force in the Nashville music world.

"Country is so strong. Because country makes Nashville a home exclusively, it's almost a problem for everybody else," Sanders said.

"You're going to always be a stepchild," he added regarding non-country music attempts in the Tennessee city.

Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Rick Vito agreed any attempts to go outside the city's traditional musical focuses have been met with a lack of enthusiasm.

"It's very much a songwriters town, but it seemed like if you weren't country, they weren't interested," he told The Tennessean.

http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_New...0361248034423/

[chiliD]

Well, there also is a world of difference in the "cost of living" between Hawaii & Tennessee, as well. I would think it's a whole lot cheaper to live in Tennessee than in Maui. Plus, I would think that even with the narrow minded musical attitudes in Nashville, it would STILL be easier to get a session gig there than in Lahaina.

With Rick's musical background & tastes, I would think that Memphis would be more to his liking than Nashville.

[SteveMacD]

I would've said Chicago, but damn, it gets REALLY cold there.

[OldTimer]

He got plenty of session work in LA, from the time he moved there @ 21 till he joined FM. It still seems odd that right after the Street Angel tour with Stevie, when he must have had tons of offers lined up --- he suddenly pulled up stakes and moved across the country to Nashville, where (from the comments above) work was scarce, labels weren't interested in him, and his musical flavorings were unwelcomed.

If it's session work he wants, I can't imagine any place that would be more receptive to him than LA, even now. However, I got the idea that at this point in his career, he'd prefer regular gigs with his own band (like the MFBB) to session work. (But what do I know? I don't know the guy.)

I'm sorry, I'm still bummed over the apparent demise of the MFBB. I really liked the energy and genuine delight they brought to their performances, and unfortunately I don't see Mick & Rick keeping up that musical association, with Rick in Nashville. Obviously the same goes for the IRB.

So now, with Blue Again's very successful release earlier this year and hints of a studio album planned, Rick leaves Hawaii to once again move to 'unreceptive' Nashville.

I also have to wonder about the effect of this article in Tennessean. Rick's comments are fairly critical of Nashville's music scene -- and if he had trouble getting accepted before, I don't imagine this is going to help things any!

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by OldTimer

I'm sorry, I'm still bummed over the apparent demise of the MFBB. I really liked the energy and genuine delight they brought to their performances, and unfortunately I don't see Mick & Rick keeping up that musical association, with Rick in Nashville. Obviously the same goes for the IRB.

So now, with Blue Again's very successful release earlier this year and hints of a studio album planned, Rick leaves Hawaii to once again move to 'unreceptive' Nashville.

I also have to wonder about the effect of this article in Tennessean. Rick's comments are fairly critical of Nashville's music scene -- and if he had trouble getting accepted before, I don't imagine this is going to help things any!

OOOOHHHHH NOOOOOOO!!!!! Say it ain't so!!! I hope your predictions don't come true OldTimer. I'm sure you hope they don't either, since we're both such fans of Rick's and the MFBB combo. I really hope this is more of a "family harmony" move, than a career move.

The thing of it is though, if he's still got a deal with 429 Records, as I'm assuming Mick does as well, there's no reason to think their collaboration is over completely. Possibly the end of Rick fronting the Island Rumours Band, surely, but as far as MFBB is concerned, perhaps not. Mick, Mark and Lenny can surely travel to Nashville, or Rick can go back to Maui for recording sessions.

As far as the country thing goes, well, country hasn't really been country for about the last 20 years in my opinion, having grown up with much more "traditional" country as my base. Modern country is more "California rock with a southern flair" than it is really country. About the most traditional of modern country artists is Alan Jackson, and even he has a semi-rock feel at times, but I love it. Plus, I've always been more of a Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash type myself, none of which were all that "traditional" in their heyday.

When Rick went to Nashville in the 90's, country was in transition to it's current state. Rick would have been a hard fit at that time. Today, perhaps not so much, although I don't hear a lot of slide guitar in today's country music.

Let's keep hope alive OldTimer and hope that Rick, Mick, Lenny and Mark keep the MFBB together and producing great music, despite their distance.

[OldTimer]

Yeah, I hope you're right, sj. I hadn't thought about the contractual angle with 429 Records -- maybe they can force him to deliver a new MFBB album for us.

He sounded happy in Hawaii with Mick's band(s) -- but if the fam missed Nashville.........what's a family guy to do?

I guess Rick still Ain't Got No Home.

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by OldTimer

Yeah, I hope you're right, sj. I hadn't thought about the contractual angle with 429 Records -- maybe they can force him to deliver a new MFBB album for us.

He sounded happy in Hawaii with Mick's band(s) -- but if the fam missed Nashville.........what's a family guy to do?

I guess Rick still Ain't Got No Home.

I certainly hope they don't force him!! I'm hoping he just says, "Honey let's get some work done!" and goes into the studio and blows the roof off the place!!!

Got my fingers and toes crossed!!

[sjpdg]

According to a recent email from Rick (I've been emailing him about a CD order), he says he just isn't getting enough work in Hawaii to make it a good spot for him. He's also looking forward to working with Mick again after the FM tour is over in December.

So, let's keep our fingers crossed!!!!

[OldTimer]

Originally Posted by sjpdg

According to a recent email from Rick (I've been emailing him about a CD order), he says he just isn't getting enough work in Hawaii to make it a good spot for him. He's also looking forward to working with Mick again after the FM tour is over in December.

So, let's keep our fingers crossed!!!!

Thanks, sj!!!!

I suppose maybe, just maybe, Rick knows better what to do with his career than I do. I'll tell my inner Chicken Little voice to shut up already.

As far as the MFBB, I'll just keep the faith that my new favorite band isn't disbanding!
(And we still have those live DVD's to look forward to )

Thanks again buddy! -- OT

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by OldTimer

Thanks, sj!!!!

I suppose maybe, just maybe, Rick knows better what to do with his career than I do. I'll tell my inner Chicken Little voice to shut up already.

As far as the MFBB, I'll just keep the faith that my new favorite band isn't disbanding!
(And we still have those live DVD's to look forward to )

Thanks again buddy! -- OT

My pleasure OT!!