Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/315819
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 MACON MAGAZINE I 31 a special guest with us on some Stones shows. I suggested him to the guys. I said I've been working with this guy; he's amazing, really getting more popular in the states, and I was really grateful that they jumped on that and had him on board. But anyway, doing his record was really a special thing. I guess it was May when "Back to the Woods" (Leavell's most recent album celebrating blues piano influences) came out. It's done better than any record I've had out so far. It was a fun project to do. It was very special to celebrate these wonderful blues piano players who deserve more attention. MM: There are still more musical highlights from 2012, right? CL: Well, my band played at the New Orleans Jazz festival for five or six thousand people, which was great. At around that time, I got an e-mail from Mick Jagger asking if I could make some rehearsals in New York. It had been five years since the band had worked together, and I was like, 'It's about time!' The rehearsals went really well. Everybody was in great shape, and at the end of it, I said 'Mick, this is all good and fun, but can you tell me the purpose of this exercise?' And he said, 'well, we're thinking about doing some shows before the year is out, and I'll let you know soon.' So the next thing we did was record two new songs, "Doom and Gloom" and "One More Shot," and we had a meeting around August during that recording process, and decided to pull the trigger, announcing the 2012 tour, and we went to Paris for rehearsals on October first. We then did two unannounced shows in Paris, and one was at a club that seats about 600, and those are always special to do. And that would have been the first time in five years that the band played in public, so it was very special. From Paris we went to London, to Wembley arena. We did two shows at the O2 Arena in London, and they were wildly successful. It was special because (the Stones) were back in their hometown, and incidentally, that was the last place we had performed together back in '07. So, it was kind of like we picked up where we left off. MM: And 2012 was your 30th year with the band, right? CL: Yes, it was my 30th year with the Stones, and their 50th anniversary as a group. One other milestone: I turned 60 in 2012. I played the jazz festival that I told you about two days before the birthday, and we had a party there in New Orleans at a wonderful restaurant called Arnauds. We rented the whole upstairs, and had all the band members, friends and family. So when you put that all together along with the Stones' New York shows, including 12/12/12 benefit for Hurricane Sandy victims -- I was honored to be involved with that – and, wow, all of that made for one heck of year. MM: And we haven't even gotten to your writing, your book and your environment activism, notably through your Mother Nature Network website. CL: I'm so glad you mentioned that because that is the other big story of 2012 – the merger of Mother Nature Network with Discovery (Communications). We merged with Treehugger.com and Planet Green, which are two websites run by Discovery, and that will certainly double our visitations. We are in the process of integrating those sites; it will probably take four to six months, but we're really excited about that. MM: How did your environmental interest come about? CL: Well, I'm a child of the '60s, of course, with the cultural revolution that went on during those times; environmentalism was part of it. (But) it wasn't until I met my wife's family (who) has been connected to the land for generations – tending cattle, other livestock, and also tending forest lands (that) it really struck me. One of the most important things in