VP#58: Rockin' Out the Old Year with Vegan Drummer/Music Pro/Culinary Rockstar Richard Rees!

SoCal native and longtime vegan Rich Rees started his music career as a professional drummer and  concert producer. He went on to become a successful booking agent, working \with such artists as Colin Hay, Wynonna Judd, Michael McDonald, Alan Parsons, Human League, English Beat, Dave Davies, and many more. Rich was the assistant to the music director for President Bill Clinton's Arkansas Ball at the 1997 inauguration, and later went on to produce a Classic Rock all-star show that toured North America for nearly three years. In 2006, a the height of his booking career, he produced a sold-out 80s show at the legendary Hollywood Bowl In Los Angeles, featuring The Human League, Psychedelic Furs, and ABC. He later produced a tour called Classic Hits Live that showcased artists from the 70’s era, including Ambrosia, Christopher Cross, Edgar Winter, and Dave Mason. He toured with that show throughout the world for nearly ten years. It was one of the first Yacht Rock package shows, that spawned the genre and has since become a household term. Rich has since retired from the mainstream music business and in 2020, hw moved to the Nashville area. He is again playing drums, working with several local artists in the Conscious Music scene. He's started a new venture called Conscious Music Nashville and is promoting Conscious Music shows throughout Nashville and surrounding areas.   After a number of extended stretches as a vegetarian, Rich became a full-fledged vegan after attending a two-week vegan cooking course at the Vegan Fusion Academy with chef Mark Reinfeld. He has been vegan now for over a decade and still cooking pretty much every day. He lives just south of Nashville with an epic garden, and he's learned to make Old World styIe sourdough bread with an ancient culture from Europe. His vision is to open a vegan cafe and bakery in the near future and bring healthy organic food to his neighborhood. Resources: Zoo Life with Jack Hanna: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3Sujwhl8vvLbcDuNbNZSsB0Lnu3cXEmE' Vegan Summerfest: https://summerfest.navs-online.org/ Vegan Chef Mark Reinfeld trainings: https://www.chefmarkreinfeld.com/