Ep 228 Stevie McVie

Stevie McVie celebrates the timeless classics of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac with an electrifying, heartfelt performance that goes beyond imitation. We bring a fresh energy to every show, infusing our performances with passion, precision, and just the right amount of enchantment. We met with Karen and Mike to find out if there were any Rumours about the band.

Transcript

Coming to you from the studios at the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66, it's the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. Good evening, I'm Reid with the Roadie with the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. Seriously, that's what we're going to say.

Well, we were supposed to be doing video tonight and I was going to do my whole PBS type thing. Oh, were you really? Yeah. So this evening, we are recording without video, but we're recording live.

We are. We are. We are live, but what you're hearing is recorded.

Yes, it is. If you feel better. Hey, everybody, it's Ray the Roadie.

And this is Hollywood Mike. I guess that's all right. Now, where the hell do we go from there? I don't know.

I don't know. It's kind of like screwed everything up. I don't know.

Why'd you do that, Ray? I don't know. So what we got going on tonight? I don't know. Rumor has it we have, you know, there's a rumor going on.

Hmm. Hmm. I wonder why.

I don't know. I was watching a thing about Heathrow Airport and they showed Buckingham Palace and stuff. Yeah.

Yeah. I don't know where we're going. I don't know where we're going to go with this.

Yeah, I don't know. I guess we just got to go right to Stevie McVie. Yeah, Stevie McVie.

That's right. Why don't you just guys, why don't you guys just mix that whole thing? Oh, look at that. Wow, that was a good scene.

They joined right in. Yeah. So what do you have to contribute, Karen? Come on.

What do I have to contribute? Everything really everywhere. And I'm guessing she's the Stevie Nicks. I would.

Well, that's a good guess. But I actually also the Christine McVie. You know, I was going to ask that because I looked at a picture of you guys and I only saw one woman.

And so I was like, yeah, that's all we need. With Karen, we didn't want, you know, we didn't want anyone who's too tough. All right.

So what you're saying, OK, so what you're saying is you've got just as much controversy as the real band. It depends on the length that we're on in our texts. Honestly, I've never been in all the bands I've been in.

I've mostly been like one woman and a bunch of guys. And you always have that amount of controversy that was not limited to Fleetwood Mac. Yeah, I'm going to get all kinds of hate mail for saying that, because whenever you have a woman in the band, there's no breaking news.

It's coming in already in our email. And, you know, through no fault of her own, I will tell you, through no fault of her own, it's usually the guys become like, well, you know, we're always children. We never completely grew up.

It changes the dynamic. You know, on the other hand, Cheryl Crowe used to sing background vocals for Don Henley. And so did several people.

And she said that she felt like she kept the guys in line. So it might depend on your personal. Do I keep you guys in line, Michael? Yes, ma'am.

Good answer, Michael. Good answer. There you go.

That's that's right. Team mom. Right.

Yeah. A little bit of everything. We're really we're don't we're really afraid of her, especially in rehearsals.

We've had a few rough moments in rehearsal. You know, it's intense music. It takes a lot out of me as a singer sometimes.

And sometimes I feel bad that I take that out on the guys then because I've just, you know, Edge of Seventeen is eight to nine minutes long. Yeah. And you never stop singing that entire time.

And it's big, emotional, intense singing. And, you know, I feel bad for them because sometimes when I'm done, I'm just like, but that chord change, you know. So why do it? So why do it? I don't know why you would do a tribute to Stevie Nicks and not do it.

Do you know what I mean? And we'll talk about this, I'm sure, probably later. But it's so thrilling that she's still touring at the age that she's at. But as I have people who come up to me and they say, I love Stevie Nicks more than anyone in the world.

She's my favorite. But she can't sing that way anymore. Right.

And so for them to come out and have the live experience of hearing the song the way that they know it and love it, it means so much to people. Right, right, right. You got, you know, every time I think of Stevie Nicks, this is terrible because I do like Stevie Nicks.

And when I was growing up, I enjoyed her music a lot. But whenever I hear the name, I can't get the image of Joan Cusack out of my head from School of Rock or Jack Black Gets Her Drunk. I did not see that movie.

I did not see that. You'll have to enlighten me. And then what happens? Oh, you have to see it.

So Joan Cusack plays like the principal of this school. School of Rock, yeah. And he commits fraud by telling her that he's an actual teacher only because he's desperate for money.

And so he goes in, he becomes his teacher. And instead of teaching the kids what he's supposed to teach them, he finds out that all of these kids are talented musicians because they have this choir and this band at school. So they rehearse music to win a battle of the band's competition.

I can't believe you've never seen School of Rock. I know, right? Isn't it crazy? I'm not a real big movie watcher. I wish we had like a New York Raspberry sound effect on here because every musician has to see that movie.

That's your homework. You have to go home and you have to watch School of Rock. OK, I'm not watching it today, but I'll watch it.

With Jack Black. Yeah, I love Jack Black. He's very funny.

So to get... You know, if you go to a library, you can get a DVD. You could, yes. I bet you that DVD is at your library.

You have to have a DVD player, though. That's true. No, actually, it is on the streaming services.

OK. But he has to get Joan Cusack to sign off on permission slips and give them permission to go off campus and everything. So in order to do it, he takes her to a bar and gets her drunk because he finds out that she's a Stevie Nicks fan.

Right. And what was the song? Landslide or something? White Wing Dove. It's Edge of Seventeen.

That's the one. That's the song. And she just starts singing the song.

Of course she does. And goes nuts and gets drunk and signs off on the permission slip. Well, there you go.

OK. And then it sparked a whole industry of School of Rocks and... It did. Yeah, right.

What came first? I don't know. Um, I'm pretty sure it was the movie. Yeah, I think so, too.

I thought School of Rock was around already. I don't know. Maybe not.

That's for another time, I guess. Yeah, I could try. That would be a fantastic podcast to bring the founders of School of Rock.

They would be awesome sponsors, too. Did I mention that we're always working for sponsors? Yeah. They would be awesome sponsors.

And they would, yes. So how did this band... How did you guys form? How did you all come together? Go ahead. During COVID, there was nobody out.

No places were having bands play. And I knew guys, I don't know if you know the Tony Ocean and all that. Everybody was doing something to play, to be relevant and get out there.

And he was in his driveway and setting up concerts. And we were setting up in Elmhurst porch concerts. Everybody was responsibly... What was that word? Socially distanced.

Socially distanced and everything else. But then like in DuPage County, it was the mayors and everything were kind of like thumbing their nose at the governor and stuff and saying, oh, we're opening, but we'll be outside and all that stuff. So the local bar in Elmhurst-Riley had us out to play.

But whoever wanted... And it was like, whoever wants, I want to play. Let's get the... Oh, I can't play. I have a family to think of.

Let's get Karen and she'll play. Yeah, I kind of had met these guys through a friend of mine from high school. She's like, hey, I'm dating a drummer.

And we have these house parties and we all hang out. And Mike, this guy, Mike brings his guitar and we all sing. And so I got to know them a little bit informally first.

And then they started doing these outdoor shows. And I would just get up and I'd sing a couple of things, you know, some... I was doing some U2. And I think we were doing Stop Dragging My Heart Around.

Yeah, we did that. Anything that you love. You love Cheap Trick.

I do love Cheap Trick. I was very pleased with the picture of them when I walked in here. So it got down to the point where Joe, our drummer, and Corinne... My friend from high school.

They were getting married and their song was... Leather and Lace. Leather and Lace. So we were kind of employed to... For no money.

But employed to... We had a really nice dinner, though. Do that. Do that.

At the... First we did... You sang... At last, at their engagement. At their actual wedding ceremony. They walked down the aisle to Leather and Lace.

So we did that. And it was very cool. It was at City Winery in Chicago.

Right. And we practiced it and we did it. We were doing it already, kind of.

Yeah, we were kind of messing around with it. So it was cool. It started from there.

And then we did some more shows. And then she told a story about how she had this... So a handyman came to my house once. And my closet had basically collapsed, which tells you that I have a lot of stuff.

And so all my clothes and my shoes and my scarves and jewelry and stuff were all over the house. And I love this guy, Stan, who's the sweetest man. And he just said, you know, you got a real Stevie McVie thing going on.

And I'm sure he meant Stevie Nicks. But it was more perfect because he said Stevie McVie by accident. So I told friends that.

And then they started just calling me that to be ridiculous. And... I was like, we got to do a thing. And it was... We started going out and doing Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks type of stuff.

Just the two of us. Calling it Stevie McVie and me. And I ran that past a couple of the promoters and people that didn't even hear it.

They said, oh my God, that's like the greatest name, Stevie McVie. Nobody had it. We looked it up.

And so we, you know, tried in the process of it, actually getting it trademarked. So because it's just two names, it's not like everybody else that goes out. Well, it's a perfect play on Fleetwood Mac, too, because that's also two names.

Basically, you know, Mick named it for himself and was hoping John would join the band if he actually named it after him. And so it's kind of a nice twist on that, too. Yeah.

And Karen can sing for two. So we don't... There's no need to get another person on keyboards or anything, especially Andy. He's kind of a... Andy doesn't look great in a blonde wig anyway.

So we're just letting him do his Andy thing. So then Mike found all these other players, people that... Well, one, Jim Petty, the bass player we already knew and loved and worked with. But then you knew Tom and Andy from other experiences.

The Nucleus. I mean, everybody that I played with, they've been playing with for 30 years or so. Except me.

Yeah, except Miss McVie. And we were just going out and playing these one-offs and stuff as the two of us. And then a couple more would come in.

And we said, well, we got to get a band behind this. Then we... I never realized how many there were out there that, you know, cover bands that did this. And they dress up like them and everything.

And they're fantastic and all that stuff. But we just didn't want to... We didn't want to be that band. Yeah, we were kind of looking for a different way to do what we do.

You know, we don't want to be... We don't think of ourselves as like an impersonation straight up. Because again, we don't have... If you look at us, we don't have two women, right? Yeah, but... Yeah, but in all fairness, though, because I did go online and look at you guys. You dress like Stevie Nicks.

Oh, I do. And you definitely look like Stevie Nicks. Thank you.

I appreciate that. Because sometimes people come up to me at shows and say, you don't look enough like... No, especially when you're wearing a beret. When I got the hat on.

That was sort of a weird thing. I've always dressed like Stevie Nicks. Because even as a kid, I just idolized her so much.

You know, so I kind of, as my handyman said, I already had the vibe. I mean, that was 10, 15 years ago. That stands it.

Back in high school, she was just goth. Everybody would go, no, Stevie was so hot when I was in high school. Oh, no, I bet.

No, she was. Stevie, hair, treadmill, gowns, you know, the whole thing. And I ate up every minute of that.

That was like, for me... She actually looks more like one of Stevie's backup singers. If you know Marilyn Martin. She did a big duet with Phil Collins back in the 80s called Separate Lives.

Oh, yeah. Marilyn Martin's been singing with Stevie for a long time. And yeah, if you see her on the stage, you would probably think... We saw Stevie at the United Center a few years, a couple of years back.

And we're like, oh, my God, that's Karen. That's Karen's up there. We're just far enough away to know, you know.

But it's been real interesting. I mean, since we put the band together, it was even that could have been a one-off because a particular venue was looking for a band for Stevie's birthday week. And they only have two bands on Thursday nights.

So we like put together the show. We didn't even quite have three hours of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie at that point. We were close, but not quite.

And man, I will just never forget the... I've been singing a long, long time, but I mostly sang at private events, weddings, corporate events, stuff like that. And I remember I was walking toward this bar with my hat and my tambourine, and I thought, well, maybe there'll be like 50 people there. You know, that would be cool.

And I opened the door to this big place, and it was completely packed with people I did not know who came just on the basis of them saying, we're going to have a Fleetwood Mac tribute band here. That's how big that this thing can be. We, as opposed to the other bands that go out there, and it's a tribute band and everything.

I was always... We're celebrating Stevie, all things Stevie. Until someone said, oh, you play Stevie Wonder? And I'm like, no. But it's the... People are very literal.

Now it's like we celebrate all things Stevie next. And that just got so many different people out. And you're right.

We didn't know these people. That's when we knew we kind of had something, because they started coming and we played a place out here for a Sunday brunch type of thing. And you guys had more people than anybody else ever in this place at this time.

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. And on top of that, I think that was one of the first times you got to do an informal meet and greet. They were hounding you for... They just want to talk to her.

I really am not. I'm not those people. But like I was saying, there's an emotional intensity to this music that everybody has a story that they want to tell you about a certain song or a certain experience.

I've had people tell me, I lost my spouse a few years ago. This was her favorite band. So when I listen to this music, it really means a lot to me.

I've had people tell me they've had these songs at their weddings or different things. You do also, though, during the show, you tell your stories to the people, too. And it all becomes one thing, like what this song meant to her or what it means to everybody in the family.

Again, sometimes for us, I mean, literally, we talk with the other people, we kind of just get lost in her performance. And when you're playing, and Fleetwood Mac was kind of a jam band back in the day as it was, and when she went out on her, did her solo stuff, she had the best musicians that came out and kind of locked things in. But you kind of let her go.

And Karen, you like everything to be to the studio album. And we tend to kind of want to listen to other versions and see what else is out there. And it ends up where you go with the studio album.

You start like in Gold Dust Woman and even Seventeen, you got to kind of like follow her. And there's a lot of times she's following us because we're like, you know, we call them clams, as you know. And, you know, she'll be like, oh, boy, where are we going now, guys? Yeah, it's okay.

Tom, she's waiting. Go to the next part. One thing that's good, though, is that because we've all been doing this for a long time, as you know, like you just, you know, you roll with it.

You don't, the song does not fall apart. You just go, okay, well, we're going to do another chorus and then we'll get back into that part. We just, but it has been fun and challenging for me.

Again, I sang in like wedding bands and stuff for a long time. In that environment, people generally, at least then, wanted to hear the song exactly like it was on a recording. They don't want you to improvise.

They don't want a guitar solo to go on for two and a half minutes. They're like, no, just give me Celine Dion and the Titanic and we're done. Yeah, we don't like those people.

We kick those people out of the room. Of course, of course, yeah. Leave.

So with this band, it's like sometimes it's really like wild for me for them to just go, okay, at the end of this song, you know, I'll watch old videos of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie particularly, Mick Fleetwood would sometimes say it was almost like an exorcism. You know, she was just wailing up there and improvising all over the place. And so it's been really cool and really freeing to try more of that, you know, and some nights it's there, some nights it's maybe not as strong as I'd like it to be.

But the audience responds to that in a really cool way. And it all matters on how long we have to play on how long we're doing the long version of this one or we're doing. Yeah, sometimes we have to make a note, like keep it short because we only got 90 minutes tonight or Fleetwood Mac's not making any new music right now.

So it's not like you can keep adding to the set list. The funny thing is, you said it when we started doing some of these other songs is, well, here we got a new one, but there are no new ones. This is new for us.

New for us. 1975, right? Yeah. You know you're hitting the bottom of the barrel when you pull out Holiday Road.

I thought about it because I kind of like that song. You know, that would actually be a pretty cool novel. It would be.

That is kind of the point where we're at right now. How do we grow the set list without bringing on things that are too obscure or too deep for people? I mean, that's the music I love. I love all of the albums.

You may be surprised. Yeah. Yeah.

Lindsey Buckingham did a lot of movie scores. I bet you there's a lot of stuff out there that people have heard. And those are great.

And we're working on it. You know, we love to play Tango in the Dark. We love to do all that.

I love Tom to just whip out Big Love up there by himself and things like that. But the name is Stevie McVie and it's good to have the other things because we do dabble in other things like Tom Petty and Don Henley and some of the things that she went off into. Yeah.

Kenny Loggins. We're bringing on Kenny next. Yeah.

Well, you know, in preparing for you guys to be in here, I guess I wanted to, you know, brush up on my Fleetwood Mac history and the whole bit. I mean, you could branch out doing other things because it's absolutely shocking how many members of Fleetwood Mac actually played in John Mayall's Blues Breakers at one point time. And then they went on.

There were spinoffs from Fleetwood Mac. We had Bob Welch, who people might not know from Fleetwood Mac. But if you say, do you know the song Sentimental Lady? They'll go, well, of course I do.

You know, I mean, so there's all kinds of little pathways you can go. Well, yeah. So many people that played for Fleetwood for Fleetwood Mac.

I mean, he he was actually wasn't he in The Grateful Dead? No, I think I know Bob Weir. Bob Weir. Bob's with W's, but yeah.

Yeah, two W's. I grew up in a dead household. So yeah, and and Brent Mason at one point in time, I think, you know, Peter Green and well, that's about by me.

You're going back to when they were green man, Alicia. Yeah, right, right. You know, Judas.

I mean, Peter Green went from John Mayall's Blue Breakers to Fleetwood Mac. Yeah, right. And that's when they were jamming.

That's when they wrote Black Magic Woman. Right, right, right. People don't always know all of those stories.

People have no idea that Fleetwood Mac, that Peter Green wrote Black Magic Woman. They think that's a Santana song. So yeah, it's great history.

There are other bands out there that do a few more of those that earlier era of Fleetwood Mac. You know, we talk about it. It's just there's so much, you know, like we felt like we needed to get some of the stuff from Tango in the Night on there, like Everywhere and Little Lies and things that were big hits.

You get so many people coming up after a show going, oh, I loved it. Like Sarah was one of them. And for me, although Karen just like kills it, just knocks it out of the park and it's just, it's just song goes on, you know, and then afterwards, everybody just loves it.

And it's like one of the biggest response. So I'm like, yeah, I could say. Yeah, it's not really, you know, it's not his.

And it's not my choice. Those are the compromises we have to make as a band, you know, where you have to say this might not be my kind of song, but somebody out there really wants to hear it. Well, I'll tell you what, we've hit about the halfway point.

So it's time to put your money where your mouth is. So and and let's get a song out of you guys. You got the guitar over there.

That'd be really cool. We doing it in here in the same? Yeah, we're going to do. Yeah, we're going to take a little break here.

OK, I'll be right back. You're listening to the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. Hey, everybody, it's Ray the Roadie.

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And we are back for the first time tonight. We have Mike and Karen from Stevie McVie live in the studio. I used to use before I said, yeah, well, what am I supposed to do? I didn't know what I was getting into.

So you've had a little trouble in town. Now you're keeping some demons down. It's hard to think about what do you want? It's hard to think about what do you? This doesn't have to be the beginning.

Even this doesn't have to be anything at all. I know you really want to tell me. I know you really want to be your own girl.

Baby, you could never look me in the eye. Can you buckle with the way? Then make me some bread. You need someone looking after you.

I know you really want to tell me. Goodbye. I know you really want to be your own girl.

Stop dragging my. Stop dragging my. And the crowd goes wild.

Yes. There we go. Very nice.

Very good guys. So, so do you consider yourself to be more of a, uh, I guess, are you a Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac cover band, or do you, are you open to all decades and eras of Fleetwood Mac? Oh, I think we're open to all eras, you know? Yeah. I mean, I love doing the Christine McVie stuff, honestly.

Um, and I know like, there's so much more, um, to her contributions than what people think of. They think of starting with that 1975 album called Fleetwood Mac, the black and white album. But she was in the band before then.

You know, I'd love to do some of that stuff, but again, we're sort of trying to, we've been doing this for not quite two years, and I think we're trying to figure the audience out. We really are because it's, it's for them, you know, it's not so much for us. I could jam the set list with the songs that I love, but maybe people don't want, maybe that's not what they want.

Right. Well, for everybody listening out there, why don't you send us a email and let us know what you want to hear. Yeah.

I would love that. Yeah. Christine McVie was such a songwriter.

She was such a fantastic songwriter. So, yeah, I mean, we pay, um, you know, total respect and celebration to her. Um, she got some great songs.

Right. You kill, you kill on them. I mean, Songbird and so forth.

And I was up at St. Patrick's day party at a bar in Des Plaines the other night, and they fooled me. They got me up to sing an Irish song. And then Andy, the keyboard player went right into Songbird with no breaks.

So it was like, since you're at a microphone, you'll be singing this tune. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, there's some tribute bands out there, like, uh, what specifically comes to mind, and I see it the most is with ACDC tribute bands. Okay. They're either, they're either Bon Scott tribute bands or they're Brian, or they're the Brian Johnson era.

They very, very few cross the line between the two. Why do you think that is? Can you enlighten us? I know. I have no, I have no idea.

Vocal style is too different or something. Well, I don't know if, I don't know if it's, I don't know if it's that, I think it comes down to like, like the same people, like, you know, some people think that David Lee Roth is the only front man of Van Halen. Some people think that, you know, Van Halen I think would, I mean, I don't think you could find a guy who's going to do David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, right? I mean, vocally, that's, that's a big chunk.

If you could do Sammy, you could do David. Okay. Good point.

Good point. Sammy's my guy. Yeah.

I think I was more of a Sammy guy myself. God, what a voice. I mean, still, you know, he's like 75 years old and he's still belting it out.

Yes, he is. Sammy, Sammy Hagar was, was, is, and will ever be one of the hardest rock vocalists to cover. The range is, the range is insane.

Yeah. And at the volume that he contained. He was part of one of the best, first albums of all time, which is the Montreux solo.

Yes, he was. Yep. That was fantastic.

I mean, I'm a vocalist and I've got a pretty decent range. There's like two Sammy Hagar songs I can sing. Yeah.

Yeah. I was in a cover band in college and we were doing some of that era of Van Hill and it, even as a woman, it's challenging. It really is.

Absolutely. But I mean, but going back to what I was saying, you know, there's just some people, I don't know what it is. There's, there's an ACDC tribute band in the area that I know the guys pretty well, and they're like, we're, we're Bon Scott.

We do Bon Scott. We don't do any Brian Johnson. They suck.

Wow. But that's when they, but that's when ACDC received their most commercial success. They're sellouts.

Really? Yeah. You're right. Every single stadium they play to this date.

Yeah. Yeah. But that's the, that's the truth though.

I was just watching something about ACDC on, on, uh, online today. I mean, these guys, they're still touring, you know, and they've made a career out of writing two songs, three songs, but they're great songs. I don't know.

I mean, I think you bring up an interesting thing is that being in a tribute band in general, you get a lot of flack from people. You get people who say you're vultures, you know, you're, you're like eating off the carcasses of these established artists. And I'm like, you know, there's so many different ways of looking at it and I get it.

But from art, like, as I was saying earlier, um, Stevie, I love her so much. And I loved Christine so much. Christine's gone, you know? I mean, Fleetwood Mac will never, even if we get a reunion, a one-off kind of thing, it's never going to be the Fleetwood Mac you knew when you were a kid.

You can find piano players to play her parts, but you're not going to find somebody to write the songs. But the other thing we encounter when we're out at shows, and this means a lot to me too, is I have people come up to me, they're in wheelchairs, they're elderly, and they're like, we love this music. We can't go to a place like Soldier Field.

It is beyond our, sometimes it's also beyond their financial means. There definitely is a, there definitely is a pull to that. So like, it's heartwarming to me for 30 bucks, you get a nice seat in a theater and we put on a great show for you for 90 minutes to two hours.

And you hear all the music you love in the way that you like to hear it. And, um, so that, that means a lot. So when people say that, you know, oh, tribute bands, you know, they're just in it for money or whatever.

There's a lot more to it. And I think that that's really unfair. I think you're hearing, I think you hear that more from, um, musicians who take themselves too seriously.

I mean, I think that's really what it is because if you look at the numbers, if you, if you talk to club owners and you look at the shows people are going to, the majority of people are going out to see tribute bands. That's, I mean, especially in the state of Illinois, we, we talk about this all the time, the state of Illinois is probably leading the charge with tribute bands in, in bars and restaurants. And that's, that's all people are going out to see because they want to know what they're going to get.

Do you think that that's the key to it? I'm just, I'd love to hear your perspective. Is that what people are counting on? I know what I'm going to get. I, you know, well, it's funny enough.

We, we had this conversation on this, on this, uh, podcast before. And, um, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that you raised the person that said it. You want to tell them what you said about it? No, no, go ahead.

Praise me. Praise me. Yeah, because, because I never thought of it from this perspective before, but he said, the reason why people go out to see tribute bands is because a lot of times your audience members are lazy.

And the reason is it takes no effort to go out and listen to music that you enjoy and it's being played the way you expect it to be played. It takes work. It takes effort on their part to sit there and, and give new music a chance.

You have to, you have to be an active listener in order to appreciate it. If it's not something that you've heard a thousand times. Yeah.

Well, and that's part of an age group thing too, though, because once you get, once you get past this, I turned 60 this year and I forgot how to use my remote control for my television. So to, to get on board with new music, you know, it's in, and there's maybe one or two out of 10 that really stay with it and on top of it, but yeah, I mean, that's why you get so many journey tribute bands and you know, all that. That's why don't stop believing is so popular as well as unpopular.

Are you describing it as polarizing? We play, we don't play, don't, when we put don't stop on our set list, it's something entirely different. Yeah. They're don't stop.

Yes. Right. There was a, you know, there is a tribute band for every famous band.

You can think of, I guarantee it. You can find a, it wasn't like that 10 years ago. No, I've kind of bands you've never heard of.

And yeah, you know, I will say that. Okay. So friends of ours are in a, a tribute band to foreigner and bad company and bad finger and their lead singer.

Yes. Focal. Thank you.

Um, their lead singer is also in a tribute band to a band. I have literally never heard of. I think they're called breaking Benjamin.

Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Literally. No idea. I have nothing.

Breaking Benjamin has been around for about 12 to 15. So, I mean, that's interesting to me. They almost feel too new to have a tribute.

That's where the age thing comes in. Didn't want to say anything Karen, but you can turn a tribute band into absolutely everything. And sometimes I wonder, do you think again, like from your perspectives, is there a point having a, is breaking Benjamin still touring? Are they still around? You know, I don't follow them very much.

And what I remember about breaking Benjamin is I wasn't a fan because they were, they were, I mean, were they good? Yeah. They were good. And I, and I've heard some of their music and everything, but they belonged to that era of, of new metal or new rock that became very commercial where it all sounds the same to me.

So, and I mean, so, so I stopped listening to mainstream radio 10, you know, at least 10 years ago. So if you, if you asked me a question about, okay, who's the, who's the number one hard rock band on the radio today? I couldn't tell you because I've stopped listening to mainstream radio. It all started sounding the same to me.

But, but I, you know, so we don't get off of that thing about, about, about cover, you know, about tribute bands and the whole bit, I think you kind of hit the nail on the head. You know, there's a lot of people that aren't going to spend the money to go out and see the actual band because it's too expensive. Like I just, I just looked for Doobie Brothers tickets today online and I looked at the price.

I was like, holy shit. Really? Like, what do you, I mean, do you mind sharing what, what I'm curious? Well, to get the seats that I, that I wanted, it would have cost me about $500. I mean, I just think that that's, I mean, it's not just going to StubHub or one of those guys.

I mean, the actual ticket masters is doing that as well. I mean, they're going, they're going in. Yeah.

The tickets are starting out expensive, so God forbid you got to buy him from a secondary. Doobies are playing my what? September 29th over here in Tinley park. Right.

And if I wanted to get lawn seats for $35, I could, but I'm, I'm, I'm 54 years old. I don't want to climb up the hill. And so when the audience for the Doobie Brothers wants to sit on the lawn, I hated that lawn back in the eighties, my lawn days, my lawn days, I remember sliding down that hill during a show.

Yeah. And, uh, July 5th, we're, we're opening for Chicago. At Rivinia.

We saw that. Yeah. I saw that.

That's pretty cool. The lawn seats for that, where you go out and have your picnic with Jeeves and everybody, those are $99. I know.

And it's crazy. I, I was at Rivinia last summer and saw ZZ Top and, and we, there was no, I couldn't get any place where I could see the actual band. No, isn't it? Yeah.

$99 to get in that park and you're looking at a video monitor. I think we spend about $600 for two seats for Steely Man. And that was probably eight years ago.

And we were in the pavilion at least. Oh, you were. Okay.

So at least you were in the pavilion. Oh my God. The sound in there.

Our bass player, Jim lives a block away and they just sit out on their back porch and get the same amount of noise. Well, let's go and know where we'll be parking that day. Yes.

Yeah. We exactly. For ZZ Top.

We, uh, I was with two people that I work with and there's a, uh, upstairs and, and, and that complex, there's a nice like martini bar and they've got a big video monitor on the wall and they've got leather sofas and everything. We did two laps around that entire park, looking for some place to sit, see if we can actually see the band. We couldn't see the band anywhere.

So we walked upstairs to get a drink and saw the video monitor. There was like 10 people in this entire bar. We sat on leather sofas and watched the video monitor in the air conditioning.

You just gave away the secret to Ravinia. Yeah. Yeah.

And we had, yeah. And we had a waitress coming over and taking drink orders and the whole fit. I've got my feet up and we're watching it.

I was like, yeah, air conditioning at Ravinia is definitely a luxury, but yeah, it's a great place, but you, you really, if you either have to splurge on the pavilion or you will not see the band and sometimes you can hardly hear them cause the buzz out on the lawn, you know, everybody's been, there's a lot of stuff going on all afternoon, everybody, that was the other thing, everybody was talking. Cause you're so far away from the stage when you're, when you're there, you're so far away from the stage. You can have a regular conversation with the people that you're with and everybody's talking.

Everybody's talking. So if you're there to actually hear the music and you're sitting someplace in that lawn, you're not here in the concert. Yeah.

And I get crazy from that. I'm no big fan. It's like being in a bar and you just hear them talking over each other and everything.

That's the thing that I've kind of had to get used to with, with what we do. You know, sometimes we're in a bar and it's super loud and it's crazy. And the TVs are on and I have to be like, it's cool.

It's all right. You know, just cause you're up here emoting doesn't mean they have to turn the baseball game off. But then another time we're in a theater where it's, they're really glued to what you're doing and they're, and you're like, okay, we cannot screw up.

Yeah. They're like, come on, get up and dance. Or we can't see them.

Yeah. Yeah. Right.

Sometimes the lights are so bright. We don't see them. Well, your performance definitely becomes different.

It's no longer, it's no longer, you're not, you're not hosting a party. Well, that's one of the things that people come up and say, and they're really nice when they do is that, you know, I've seen the other Fleetwood Mac tribute bands and every, I love, we, you know, we love how you do it and we're going to come out and see you again and, and, and things like that. And they come out sight unseen because it's, you know, Fleetwood Mac and the music that they love.

So we just try to give it to them. But it's each place that it goes that we end up, or was that we're driving, I was, uh, Mindy and my wife and I were driving and we just got out of there and she's got her, she looks like Carol Burnett at the end of Carol Burnett with the dragon, all my stuff, like Stevie just got left off at some truck stop and, uh, and there's people like chasing her and my wife's like, Oh, you better stop. You better stop and make sure she, she'll be fine.

Hey, Hey, um, I would love to sit here and talk to you guys, you know, a lot more, but I think, I think everybody liked to hear one more song from you guys. I would. And yeah.

And, and before we take off, we definitely want to find out where you guys are going to be playing next. And, uh, for sure. And the whole bit sounds good.

Okay. I want to do, let's do drinks. No, I, I, I'm having a little trouble hearing.

No, it's just not real clear or something. So how about, I thought we were going to do Leather and Lace. Yeah, that's a good one.

Sorry to put the pressure on you, but then I can't see. And I am stronger than you. But I carry this feeling when you walked into my house that you won't be walking out the door.

Still, I carry this feeling when you walked into my house that you won't be walking out of the door. Love is forever, face to face. I see your mountains, stay with me, stay, I need you to love me, give to me your leather, take from me my lace.

Here in the moonlight, with your sleepy eyes, could you ever love a man like me? Sometimes I'm, sometimes I'm scared and cold, sometimes I just cry. Love is forever, face to face. I see your mountains, stay with me, stay, I need you to love me.

Today, give to me your leather, take from me my lace. You should warn people about that, it's startling. Their fans are back.

The fans, that's right. Dead be ready. Well, that's Mike and Karen from Stevie McVie, everybody.

How many other people are in your band? Four. Four? And who are they? We're going to give them a shout out. Joel Frey on the drums, Jim Petty on the bass, Tom Quinlan on guitar and vocals, and Andy Banathy on keyboards, occasionally the accordion and the electronic wind instrument.

Nice. Nice. Nice.

So what do you guys have coming up? We got the spring and summertime coming up here. You guys got some shows coming? Let me get the exact dates here for you, but in April, we will be at a fabulous venue in Elmhurst, Illinois, Stage 119. That's going to be on Saturday, April 26th.

We'll be playing with a Sheryl Crow band that night called Tuesday Night Music Club. Oh, we just interviewed those guys a few weeks ago. Nice.

Okay, good. Well, they're excellent. So we're really looking forward to that.

And then on Saturday, May 3rd, we will be here in Joliet. I don't remember, I'm sorry, the name of the place. It's like a special event venue.

It's kind of just a, it's not a normal like rock venue. It's something they're just setting up for us that night. So I apologize.

I don't have more details. We have a website, steviemcvband.com. We're on Facebook and Instagram, so you can always find our gigs there. We got a bunch of things coming up in June and July.

Again, July, tickets will be going on sale for the Chicago at Ravinia with Chicago, actually Chicago with us. Yeah. Chicago.

They're so kicking it, man. That is so overwhelming. I saw them a few years ago in San Diego.

I went all the way to San Diego to see Chicago. That seems back already. And there's still actual members in it.

Yes, there are. There's still actual members in it. Mike has been friends with them for a long time.

I'm wondering if that special music venue around here is that the old church that somebody recently is renovating. That was in May? Yeah. I'm thinking it might be the Royal Palace.

It is. Thank you. Yes, that is what it is.

I knew it had royal in it, but I couldn't remember the rest. I'm so sorry. This is when we need Joe here.

Joe would be kicking me under the table. Why did you not write this down? Joe, besides being our drummer, handles all the business stuff for the band. We are so grateful for him.

That's kind of right around the corner from here. Musicians and business. Nah, not so good.

Excellent. Excellent. So, yeah.

So, we're looking forward to a real busy summer too. July is jam-packed. Yeah, we have a handful of us.

But again, if we're on Facebook, you go to StevieMcVeeBand.com and it's all over. You could hit the right buttons and become an insider. That's right.

Joe's got all this stuff. Yeah, we got an email list. Send us your song ideas.

I really do love hearing that from people. Like, what songs do you think we should be doing next? So, Joe is, I don't know what he is first. You know, he might be a drummer first.

He might be an accountant. Yeah, he's all things to all people. He puts all our stuff together.

Yeah, he does a great job. He might be just bored first. I don't know.

Good. Excellent. Excellent.

Well, hey, it was a pleasure talking to you guys. Thank you so much. Thank you for having us.

Thanks for braving the weather, the hail and the wind and all that stuff. Yeah. The tornadoes, the rain, the snow.

Never expect it when it rains. That's what Stevie says. So, yeah.

Yeah. Well, thanks a lot, guys. Appreciate it.

Great meeting you guys. Thanks so much. We love this.

Thanks. Stevie McVee. That's a clever name, I think.

It is. Stevie McVee. Yeah.

Yeah. It makes total sense. It does.

Yeah. There's a Leonard Skinner tribute band called Artemis Pile. That's true.

There is. Yeah. Right.

Yeah. Take somebody's name. That's kind of cool.

Yeah. You don't want to step in that Artemis Pile either, though. No.

You don't want to do that. That'd be bad. Yeah.

Yeah. No, they were pretty. You know, she actually looks like Stevie Nicks a little bit.

A little bit. Sounds a little bit like her. A little bit.

From what I can tell on the internet, the show is pretty theatrical. I mean, you know, Stevie Nicks always kind of had that, you know, little bit of a theater. The long flowing dresses.

Yes. Yeah. The long hair and all that stuff.

Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.

So I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen a Fleetwood Mac tribute band. I think I have once. I think it was like a nationally touring act I saw at a place in Frankfurt.

It'll remain anonymous unless they want to sponsor us. Yeah. That's right.

That's right. Okay. But it was a lot of fun.

Yeah. So make sure you go check out Stevie McVie and tell him the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast sent you. And make sure you turn in every, turn in, no, tune in every Tuesday for another new exciting episode of the world famous Rock and Roll Chicago podcast.

See you then. The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin, theme song courtesy of MNR Rush. The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast does not own the rights to any of the music heard on the show.

The music is used to promote the guests that are featured. The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin, theme song courtesy of MNR