Kid Rock Pirates the Caribbean

Kid Rock is about to cause some serious waves on the high seas with his inaugural “Chillin' the Most Cruise”, heading out from Tampa, Florida to Grand Cayman April 29 – May 3, 2010. The Kid will be rockin’ the floating resort Carnival Inspiration from shore to shore with around the clock concerts from a bountiful list of artists and DJs, parties, activities, contests, and everything that makes a Kid Rock party. There ain’t no party like a Detroit party, but you never know what can occur when you mix Kid Rock with the salty waters of the Caribbean.

There off like pirates to Grand Cayman’s beaches where cruisers can snorkel with stingrays, scuba dive, sail on a catamaran, take in some sport fishing or just relax on the sands of Seven Mile Beach. The cost to board the “Chillin’ the Most” Cruise (starting at $799) appears to be no object for the Kid Rock Congregation of followers, heading out on this sold out cruise.

The Kid Rock “Chillin’ the Most” Cruise is a product of Sixthman, “an affinity travel company that creates unique experiences by bringing like-minded people together.” The Bearded Hag connected with Sixthman founder Andy Levine, to find out more about the company, while he was preparing to embark on the VH1 Best Cruise Ever.

Sixthman is going through an aggressive growth spurt from 6 cruises in ’09 to 9 in 2010, and 3 in the next five weeks. The epiphany came as Levine was head of the band Sister Hazel out of Florida; he placed a strong emphasis on the relationship between the band and their fans, developing the street team that created a grass roots mobilization. The street team was provided with information first on the bands activities, back stage passes, and chances to meet the band; in exchange for calling radio stations as the army spreading the word. By 2001, the Sister Hazel street team had grown to 400 people demanding one weekend to grill hot dogs and hang out with the band. They had called radio stations, put up posters, allow traveling members sleep on their sofas, and their reward was a day cruise with Sister Hazel. “Everyone thought we had gone too far, being trapped on a ship for 4 days with our fans, but it is the right thing to do.”

Sixthman progressed along to the next step of creating the same event on a ship as reward for 1,800 supporters of multiple bands. In 2005, the Bare Naked Ladies made the call to Sixthman to create an event for them; soon John Mayer, Lynyrd Skynyrd followed suit and with the current shift in the music business “the only firm asset they (bands) have is their relationship with the fans.” Over the last 8 years Levine and his team have spent learning how to pioneer this business and “made lots of mistakes along the way.”

Andy Levine summed up what makes a Sixthman cruise so remarkable using a zoological analogy. In one cage, you have two artists who respect each other, have so much in common, but they never get to spend time together (passing each other on tour, recording or taking time off). On board guests gather to watch the collaboration between artists, and it makes the artists “feel alive.”

The second cage, two guests experiencing the same thing; “the deepest foundation of community is people longing to belong together.” Sixthman creates an environment for the guests to share in their mutual admiration for the bands and their music.

Then you have another cage with the artist and the guest; who have so much respect and passion for each other that the artist can share in conversations, eat dinner with them and do not feel frightened of the fan. In most cases, they already have that signature, or pictures, and they are just there to say “hey I respect you for what you are doing and glad I have a chance to tell you how I feel about your music.” Those are the three dynamics.

“The idea is collaboration, what people want to see is collaboration.” The combination makes this so much bigger than the concert, the production means less and turns into one good party.

The cost of a Sixthman cruise is about 3 to 4 times a typical cruise; lasts about 4 days (long weekend), and their primary audience is the 30 and 40 something’s (some older, some younger) that have the money, and understand how they spend their time is valuable. Sixthman has developed cruises on some simple principles; is there a community, who are the heroes, would they be willing to engage in the experience, and what’s the love between the two. As a company it is not about the music, it is about the passion of community and bringing those people together with their heroes for an extraordinary vacation experience. Their focus is to take exceptional care of current guests, they will come back and bring their friends, “period, no gimmicks, just knock them on their ass.”

Kid Rock heard about the voyage from his management who have experienced the Sixthman treatment with other bands and from Grammy Winner Zac Brown. Brown has been a mainstay artist on 9 of the cruises and this year is hosting one of his own. Kid Rock and Zac Brown have become fast friends, and hearing from both sources Rock approached Sixthman about the idea. Sixthman went to see Kid Rock perform and were "blown away". “What a perfect storm”; Kid Rock the star, “known for throwing the best party out there, the guy has a reputation for his live shows, and he is all over his fans!” Kid Rock is the hero of his community; “he had the passion to bring this thing together and it sold out in seven days.”

Kid Rock and Sixthman have distinct plans for their upcoming “Chillin the Most Cruise”. Kid Rock plans on greeting every guest as they board the ship, to get the photo taking and autograph signing out of the way and then “let’s go have some fun for a few days.” “We’re thrilled.”

Some of the other bands on the journey include Detroiters Uncle Kracker, Paradime and Downriver’s own Ty Stone (shown photo right, winner of 2 DMA's - click image for related story). Bearded Hag favorite from SXSW, Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Light from Dallas will also perform on the ship. Perfectly played classic rock ‘n roll; Tyler & Northern Light is a talented young band that sweat out their music like they are cut out from the same stone as Kid Rock.

Bands seem to have figured it out, shunning the big record company model of churn ‘n burn. It is no longer an eye on the overall volume, but how much they put into their own bank accounts. More importantly, its how they are seen by their fans that will extend their careers. Andy Levine and Sixthman cruise have done the same providing music fans the good time on the high seas.

Levine ended our call on shore, excited to board his 1,800 guests for the VH1 Cruise; knowing that later that even night after two shows, and a few stiff drinks they will return to their cabins saying, “oh yeah, I’m doing exactly what I should be doing right now.”

 


CHECK BACK FOR A FOLLOW UP IN OUR MAY ISSUE . . .



Liner Notes: Special Thanks to Becki Carr and Andy Levine for their insight into the Kid Rock "Chillin' the Most" Cruise and Sixthman Cruises.