Maynard James Keenan Explains Passion for Wine in Doc Trailer

Maynard James Keenan is a man of many occupations: Lead singer of Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, a bottler of wines and now, star of the new documentary Blood Into Wine: The Arizona Stronghold, which tells the story of Keenan and his winemaking partner Eric Glomski's decision to start a vineyard in dry, desolate Jerome, Arizona. The trailer for the beautifully shot film, co-directed by Moog filmmakers Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke, is up now at the Twinkle Cash Co. Website.

According to the trailer, in the mid-'90s Keenan and Glomski began their vineyard in the atypical location of Arizona's Verde Valley, a ghost town of the Wild West. More than a decade later, however, Keenan's Caduceus Cellars winery business is booming, with the Tool frontman often staging bottle signings. "It's like writing a song, you just want to let the sounds happen in the room and go with it," Keenan says in the trailer. "Whatever Arizona on this particular spot on the globe wants to offer up for flavors, that's what we're going to do. We let the grapes speak for itself."

Production on Blood Into Wine is still underway, with an estimated February/March 2010 theatrical run penciled in. In addition to starring in the documentary, Keenan will also provide an original soundtrack for the film, details of which will be announced soon. In the meantime, Keenan rejoins Tool this summer — Maynard schedules his music commitments around with his role at the vineyard — for a tour and headlining slots at Lollapalooza and All Points West.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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