LA Times article

[JazmenFlowers]

Lindsey Buckingham: Rock star embraces midlife
By Ann Powers, Los Angeles Times

Picture: see MacMan’s “new pic” thread

Lindsey Buckingham, the sonic architect of Fleetwood Mac, has been through a lot: megastardom during the decadent 1970s; a split with bandmate and girlfriend Stevie Nicks that defined the rock ‘n’ roll breakup; 20 years of balancing pop stardom with an irrepressible avant-garde urge; the only band reunion by presidential request (for Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration); first-time parenthood at 48. But he never expected to live in the swanky Los Angeles area of Brentwood.

“I was living in the Neutra-style house way up in the hills in Bel-Air,” Buckingham said. “I’d had that property for 30 years – it was my bachelor pad. Fleetwood Mac cut Tango in the Night there in 1987, and Mick (Fleetwood) lived in a Winnebago in the front yard. When my wife and I started having children, I decided to knock it down,” continued the 57-year-old father of three. “We built a Spanish. But it’s not a great area for kids, you can’t really go outside the gates or you’ll fall down the hill. So we decided to get into a more Father Knows Best environment.”

Soon the Buckingham clan will inhabit a freshly built fairy tale home a few blocks away from this rental. The children will have space to run circles around their dad. But daddy will certainly also claim a room with a locking door, where he can protect his other progeny: his well-nurtured songs.

On Tuesday, Buckingham released Under the Skin, his first solo album in 14 years. Recorded mostly in hotel rooms during Fleetwood Mac’s reunion tour in 2003, using little more than a guitar delay pedal and an acoustic guitar, it includes material dating 10 years or more.

On this quiet, intense album, Buckingham finds the cadence of one of life’s most difficult passages – the journey into adulthood.