Mick's Island Rumours is Back

[michelej1]

My Desert, November 13, 2008

http://www.mydesert.com/article/2008...356/1131/RSS21

Mick Fleetwood's running on island time. But that's fine. It seems that his move to Maui several years ago has influenced just about every part of his life.

Except his private label wines. Those are still a mainland enterprise.

While Fleetwood Mac may be on an extended hiatus, Fleetwood is far from idle musically.

He wrapped up a European tour with former Fleetwood guitarist Rick Vito and the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band last week.

On Saturday, Fleetwood brings his Island Rumours Band to Spotlight 29 Casino.

“I'm a musician,” Fleetwood said, apologizing for sniffling from the cold he picked up flying from Europe to home, of his various musical incarnations.

“I've always been ‘in' Fleetwood Mac since 1967. And I've always done other projects. Now one of my outside projects is the Island Rumours Band. I love to play and keep active.”

Although his musical background had a strong blues foundation, starting with a stint in John Mayhall and the Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood was open to all musical expression.

“Now that I actually live in Hawaii, I wanted to be able to have fun (with the music) because it was possible,” he said.

One of Fleetwood's strengths is finding the right people for the job, which is what he set out to do for the Island Rumours Band.

He recuited band members himself. In one case, he was approached by a girl in a shop who gave him a couple of demo discs. “I'm always polite,” he said. “I'll listen if someone gives me something.”

As it turns out, vocalist Gretchen Rhodes, “is genuinely full of vim and fire,” he said. “One listen and I knew we wanted her as our singer.”

But Fleetwood didn't just want to do a Mac cover band. “I wanted something that was more drawn from the people in the band,” he said.

Hawaiian music weaves its way into many of the standard songs and band members play their own original tunes, too.

“In the middle of ‘Rhiannon' we go into a Hawaiian chant,” he said. “And musically, its very credible.”

Aside from his music, for the past eight or so years Fleetwood's other passion has been wine.

On Friday he'll show off his Private Cellar wines at a dinner at JEM Steakhouse at Spotlight 29.

“We are vineyard independent,” he said of his Mick Fleetwood Private Cellars, meaning that he works with independent vintners on his blends rather than owning the vineyard himself.

He was more of a “beer and spirits man” for most of his life, he said, “but as my life turned a corner, I found myself enjoying wine rather more than I had before. My palate had grown.”