Who is John Kinney?
 

well, i know WHO he is, of course. but having just seen the big "update" on the nicksfix today.. (come oooon :rolleyes: ) it got me to wondering: why is this guy in charge of the official fan site? is he even a fan? it seems to me like there are far more dedicated, devoted fans around here - who really want to get the news and, more importantly, share the news. is he connected to stevie in some way? does he get paid by her for maintaining that site (read: keeping the really interesting stuff off the site until way after everyone here knows about it). the site just seems so five minutes ago to me. the "ask stevie" questions are more boring than watching paint dry. ditto, and even worse, the ask jana ones (for god's sake, send her a different question every so often). if you want the news, you come here. if you want tour dates first, if you want to hear a new demo, even if you want to see the latest reviews and articles (i mean, i get google alerts everyday for stevie and fleetwood mac - and he doesn't put a fraction of the stevie articles up) you come here. i don't think i've ever, ever learned something new from the nicksfix.

is it just me?

Well, I don't know that much about him, but I do remember years ago before it was the official site. Back then you could tell that he definately was a fan. I think once it became official he had to follow the structure that Stevie's people wanted and that had a definate impact on the sites content. I would imagine he is compensated somehow. I'm sure that all the expenses related to operating the site no longer come out of his pocket either.

Before John's site became "official" it was much more up to the minute and really was more of a fan site. I do believe everything he posts needs to be run through Stevie's people first, and that is why it takes him longer than people might like to post things. I don't think Stevie's people are all that focused on the website, so he is is probably at their mercy. We all know what she has said about the internet, so no surpirse there. That being said, John is a very nice man. I have met him a number of times, and over the years he has been very helpful and kind to me. He's a shy type of guy. You won't see him getting nuts and hooting and hollering like many of us do. That doesn't mean he isn't as dedicated as anyone. That just isn't his style. His site gets a lot of slag lately. It's not deserved. He's a good egg.

^^ i appreciate that post. it's good to know he is a fan and a good guy. does he go to shows? does he post here? i'm not sure why i want to know all this - i guess i just feel like if he isn't so into it anymore... maybe he should pass the torch?

I have met him at shows. How into it is he ? I can't say.

I've met him a few times. I am not gonna knock him. I don't particularly care for him, but I don't dislike him either. At a show I am into getting together w/ people and yaking, and chit-chat is not his deal. Or else he is a snob. It's a hard call, but really, I DON'T THINK HE IS...I am just saying that he is very quiet, reserved, and polite, but not chatty and seemingly "IN" to being where he is at. I do belive about what was said earlier that he needs all info to go thru the proper SN channels, i.e Chris (:rolleyes: ) and that is/must be time consuming. BUT.....back in the day his site was something spectacular to a newbie on the net. ALL sorts of pics, demo's etc. No one can say he is not a fan. I dunno about now-a-days (but I think he really is...see description above) but if he's not so much a fan anymore, once upon a time, he was a fan to contend with. Amazing pics, a history of early days shows, etc. Aww heck, all in all he's a cool guy. As much as I'd love to be the one in charge of an "official" SN site, I wouldn't last one day w/ the Nicks camps rules etc. The responsibility is frankly something I am shocked he's kept up w/ this long! Super kudo's for that :thumbsup:

Ditto --------

I hardly ever visit that site anymore. I did notice they have a link to Jana Anderson's website where you can hear song clips from her "new album." It's really awful. :shocked: :laugh:

I would agree with this too.:nod:

amen. I've often wondered if he feels like his site has gone to **** since becoming official. can he take it back and no longer be the official site or do they now own it?

he for sure was a groundbreaker in terms of Stevie and the net and I hate to see the site ridiculed, but it is what it is. it's really sad to see it become so...so...****, I can't think of the word...

Me too. In '95 his was pretty much the only Stevie site out there. I was so excited to find it and learn all about NOTS, demos, and other things I'd been unaware of! I met him in Vegas in '98 and he was very nice.

I talked to him a few times at the Dallas shows, Seemed like an alright guy to me (Though the first time I met him he gave me a 'go to hell' look, I'm the wrong person to be doing that to, so I itched my nose back him with my middle finger extended) I still have a "Stevie Nicks Rocks" bumper sticker hanging in our bedroom that John gave me.

I don't know anything about him, just that he lives in the suburbs of Dallas. But one thing he can control that he doesn't seem to spend anytime on is the DESIGN of the website. Nothing personal but it sucks hard. There's been no real attempt at revamping it one iota in the years he's been running it as the official site. I know there are many great designers posting here everyday who could contribute to the look of The Nicks Fix and probably not charge him anything. But oh well. I guess Stevie herself isn't all that interested in dressing it up, so nothing will be done about it.

Agreed. I would love to at least see the frames disappear. They make direct links difficult.

yup! I remember those days. JK and I e-mailed back and forth a few times back in the early days. And I think I met him at a show once, but I can't remember. I rarely if ever go to the site anymore at all.

re:john kinney
 

[BWay to go Sparky. You're right on about JK I think. CITD needs to settle down a little. The site is VERY organized and I think I like the fact that things just don't trickle out there every second. You can tell this man has a lot of class by his posts. He's always so proper and he knows how to spell! Keep up the great work JK. We love ya.
No offense CITD....peace brother/sister. Have a good one everyone. :angel:
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I've known John for years. He's a great guy. He has taken deep pride in his site and it's very deserved. I wish him nothing but the best...Sparky was right, he is "a good egg". :wavey:

rbs

I met him at the AHI debacle and thought he was very nice. He has also been very helpful via email.

The site, however, is worthy of criticism.

I, personally, absolutely agree with all of this.

John was a photographer "back in the day." Freelance, I believe. i.m.o he's taken some of the best pictures of Stevie, matter of fact.

Stevie chose John's site personally to be the Official Web Site. I have the impression she's very happy with him, at least as far as what little I've heard about it. Management, unfortunately, has very strict control over it. So don't blame John, blame Stevie's management. They seem to keep him on a tight leash. "The Situation" would be even worse if it moved completely into management's hands, or those of Reprise Records, etc. Believe it or not, it's the most fan-friendly website I've ever seen. Just check out Madonna's or Britney Spears's, for comparison. Their ONLY objective is to sell you More Stuff, and they do it in a very in-your-face, uncaring way. (i.m.o.) And also, with Ask Stevie (which is the only one of its kind that I'm aware of, personally) - she answers the questions she chooses to answer, when she chooses to answer them. If it moved into management's hands and still existed - which I doubt - nothing would change. So i.m.o.,
the fault is not John Kinney's, it's management's and - not to put her down - Stevie's.


From what I've seen, John actually goes far out of his way to help the fans feel a connection with Stevie, to give them accurate (and actual, Official) information, and to keep the site friendly and non-corporate - which it will become once it gets into Reprise's hands. When that happens, we can all look forward to having a convenient online store to buy cd's from.


http://www.nicksfix.com/nicksfix012s.jpg


http://www.nicksfix.com/nicksfix060.jpg

AHHHHHhhhhhhhhh..The good ol' days......:rolleyes:

he is a good person & been nothing but kind to me~

I've personally met the guy a few times and he's always been a gentleman to me. I really think he's a good guy.:nod:

Bob Welch has a message board on his site, and he posts there regularly. Rick Vito is good about answering e-mail, as is his former boss, Roger McGuinn.

Yeah, I'll bet Neal Schonn does too. :rolleyes:
Does Madonna? Britney Spears? Celine Dion?


:angel:

Just teasin', but really, it does seem to me that no other major stars have anything like this.

By the way, one criticism I do have about John's site is that all of the games are very old and many of them are too hard for most people. (They were designed by a very intelligent person with a 160 I.Q., and they're very difficult and time-consuming.)
I've tried several times (through e-mail) to get him to change this, but for some reason there's no movement on it, he just won't budge. However, i.m.o. he has in the past been extraordinarily open to receiving other suggestions related to the site, and has often changed the site based on my and many other's suggestions. I've also found that if there's problems with what he posts (mistakes in a schedule, for example), when you e-mail him about it he will fix it with lightning speed and will send a courteous "thank you" to whoever pointed it out to him. So that's someplace where he often moves quite quickly. He has always been very courteous and kind in my e-mail dealings with him, and if he can't answer a question he will courteously tell you that and often will tell you the reason why.

My only other little "gripe" is that he has a tendency to only be willing to answer one question at a time. In other words, if you ask him if a tour date is correct, and whether he received an "Ask Stevie" question, he will only tell you about the tour date and will ignore the second question. But in his defense, he once told me that he literally receives hundreds of e-mails per week, at least when Stevie is touring, and he tries his best. He has a full-time job, and works as a volunteer for greeting the soldiers returning from Iraq, and with other causes, so I'm sure it all keeps him very busy.

Overall, I think he's a cool guy who tries his best.

I still think my Dodge Dart would've out-dragged his car any day of the week and twice on Sunday, though.

But - I might be gravely mistaken about that. :laugh:

I'll give you Welch and Vito, but since when is McGuinn not a major star? The Byrds are certainly as relevant, if not moreso, than Fleetwood Mac. McGuinn doesn't like the limelight, and has reportedly turned down tens of millions of dollars for a Byrds reunion because he just wants to play for people who are his REAL fans, not the people who were told by MTV he was cool (yes, a "Dance" reference).

True. Eight Miles High, Turn, Turn, Turn and ironically Mr. Tambourine Man pretty much catapulted the whole SoCal rock scene into popularity and the music business shifted from that whole folk scene/Greenwich Village/Brill building thing in New York.

And then there was the first country rock album "Sweethearts Of The Rodeo." The blowback from that album is directly responsible for the careers of Emmylou Harris, Delaney & Bonnie, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles, and every alt.country artist, to name but a small few. It litterally changed the direction of popular music. Fleetwood Mac as we know it might not have been what it was without this album.