Chuck Leavell has lived a musicians dream. The keyboardist was a member of The Allman Brothers Band, played with Eric Clapton, George Harrison and countless other acts and individuals. He has written and recorded his own music. Since 1981 he's been a member of The Rolling Stones. Yes, he lives a musicians fantasy life. This is from the Clapton "Unplugged" sessions.
But here's the deal with Leavell; he's also an conservationist. In the 1980's Leavell and his wife Rose Lane inherited land in Georgia. They decided to turn it into a tree farm. So while on tour with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Leavell studied tree forestry via a correspondence course on the tour bus. Their property, The Charlane Plantation, has won several environmental, conservation and tree farming awards.
A couple of years ago, Leavell was approached by friend and advertising executive Joel Babbit. Babbit was interested in creating a website, modeled after the WebMD site, but providing a vast amount of environmental information in a clear and easy way instead. They would call their site Mother Nature Network.
Even though there were other environmental sites out there, like AlGore.com or the Sierra Club, those sites had a more limited focus, global warming or the outdoors. Sites like Greenpeace.org or Treehugger.com are for the serious environmentalist. MMN.com would focus on everything environmental as well as lifestyle topics. MMN.com does a great job of attracting people who are concerned about the environment, want to help, but also have personal family responsibilities. The formula has worked. Last May MMN.com had 20 million page views.
Leavell serves as Director of Environmental Affairs. He spends his time working with 20 journalists putting out stories daily on the site. He also hosts a video blog called "In the Green Room."
Leavell is someone who proves once again that it's possible to turn a passion into a living. Oh, and yes, he still plays with the Rolling Stones when they need him. Why break the rock habit?
Photo of Chuck with the Stones in thumbnail courtesy of his website
