Rocker sings praises of conservationist
ROLAND, Ark. -- The field filled with concentric circles of hundreds of yellow daffodils was no ordinary stage for the Rolling Stones keyboardist and his black grand piano.
But this was no ordinary performance. The rocker Chuck Leavell teamed up with popular television gardener P. Allen Smith to talk conservation from Smith's hundreds of acres outside of Little Rock.
A camera crew followed the two throughout the day as they talked about an issue dear to both men. "We just thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to have Chuck here and have him in the middle of our daffodil field playing music," Smith said during a break.
"We have sort of a visual harmony going on, and he's bringing a beautiful musical harmony to the space."
The message: It is easy being green, after all.
On a bluff overlooking the Arkansas River, Smith is building an 1840s Greek revival farmhouse from the ground up, incorporating old farmhouse standards like Rumford fire boxes with new "green" materials like insulated windows and soybean insulation.
The metal roof collects heat for a water system underneath that warms the home. Cisterns collect rainwater.
"We want to show people you can make responsible green choices at every turn," Smith said. "If you want a 'green' house, it doesn't necessarily have to look like a spaceship."
The conversation was filmed for Smith's syndicated weekly program "P. Allen Smith Gardens" and "P. Allen Smith's Garden Home," which air on public television stations.
Smith's homey touches appeal to Leavell, himself a conservationist with a model tree farm near Macon, Ga., that raises Southern yellow pine for use in homes and paper products.
Last year, he donated nearly 300 acres of his hunting preserve as a conservation easement.
The keyboardist, who first joined the Stones on their "Tattoo You" tour in 1982, said he liked what he saw throughout Smith's pastures and home.
"Allen stands for stewardship here," Leavell said. "Not only the land and what he's done with the garden and the grounds, but the animals as well."
Those animals stood nearby during shooting. Swans flapped their wings along the banks of a pond, their wooden, V-shaped roost homes nearby.
Atticus and Kit, two horses, looked down from the top of a nearby hill. And Moose, a large donkey, wandered down between Smith and Leavell during one shot.
The two men were also filming segments for the sponsor they share, the chain saw manufacturer Stihl. Both said the sponsor fit their focus on "working forests."
But their focus remained on conservation, even during visits by elementary school students from Little Rock. The students gathered around Leavell as he sat at the shining Bechstein.
They skipped the Kermit favorite along with darker Stones fare.
"I've found through the years working with kids that Jerry Lee Lewis' 'Great Balls of Fire' always works really good," Leavell said. "They get to sing that chorus."