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Stand As One with Vince Vaccaro

Vince Vaccaro really appreciates his fans. That’s why he’s giving flowers to everyone who buys his new EP.
13363mondaymagVince_Vaccaro
Vince Vaccaro

Vince Vaccaro really appreciates his fans. That’s why he’s giving flowers to everyone who buys his new EP.

Vaccaro also really appreciates the environment, so he’s decided to stop printing CDs all together. His latest EP The Dove was released in September just before Rifflandia, but instead of his music being pressed onto CDs, placed in plastic jewel cases and wrapped in non-recyclable plastic film, Vaccaro has opted to print download cards on paper made from natural fibres, embedded with the seeds of wild flowers — after you’re finished downloading the music, you can plant the card under a thin layer of soil, water it regularly and watch flowers grow.

“People say this isn’t the best idea economically, but I don’t care,” says Vaccaro, an avid outdoorsman who actively promotes ocean conservation. “I think CDs are dinosaurs. They’re so easy to damage.”

The download card also has an advantage to downloading his music from iTunes or bandcamp — it comes with a secret song, “Stand As One,” named for the grassroots initiative he started last year when he was a part of the Peak Performance Project (he finished third).

The concept of Stand As One is this: “A single choice made by a single person changes their world, their life. That same choice, multiplied by many people, changes the rest of the world, little by little.”

Vaccaro suggests making simple changes to your lifestyle, including using only reusable drinking bottles and shopping bags, eating local, carpooling, volunteering and having a regular black-out night — using candles instead of electricity after dark and reading books, playing instruments or playing a game instead of watching TV.

“I wanted to make it fun for people to do positive things,” he says.

Vaccaro is playing a show Friday at Sugar with guests including local rockers Davenport.

Vaccaro has also organized a drum circle at noon on Sunday in Centennial Square to celebrate and invigorate those occupying the public space. M

Vince Vaccaro with guests at Sugar Nightclub, Friday, Oct. 21. Doors at 8pm. Tickets $12 advance/$15 door available at Ditch Records, Lyle's Place or online at ticketweb.ca