Haze Has Lifted for Buckingham (AZ Night Buzz article)

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http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/aznightbuzz/164841.php


Haze has lifted for Buckingham
Fleetwood Mac star hopes his solo effort will get 'Under The Skin'
By Kevin W. Smith
[email protected]

Lindsey Buckingham
Where: Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Cost: $38.50 for reserved seating.
Information: foxtucsontheatre.org.

It's midafternoon when you pull up to a Los Angeles intersection.
There's pulverizing bass coming from the car next to you.
You recognize the song blaring from the vehicle as Houston rapper Chamillionaire's hit "Ridin,'" and the driver nodding his head is Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.
This scenario is not so far from reality, as the legendary musician admitted to enjoying the rap song in a recent interview from his home in L.A.
Buckingham has good reason to crank up the volume these days. He admits he's no longer the depressed, drug-addled artist of the past, having finally found the right pace of life.
"It's about somehow having my karma good enough to have met a beautiful lady and have had three children in the last 10 years, which certainly could have easily not happened after spending years and years with crazy girlfriends. I was crazy, too," he said.
Buckingham comes to the Fox Theatre fresh off his first solo offering in almost 15 years, 2006's "Under The Skin" — a gorgeous, intimate, pared-down offering featuring the guitarist's effortless string work. The album was released in the fall and made Rolling Stone's list of the best 50 albums of 2006.
One of the album's most written-about pieces is the sullen opener "Not Too Late," in which Buckingham, 57, sounds confused, wondering what to make of reviews of his work and what his kids think.
"What am I doing anyway/ Telling myself it's not too late," he sings. "My children look away/They don't know what to say."
"The idea of that song is the ultimate irony of whatever you think you are or whatever you've tried to be, it gets cut to shreds when you have children looking at you being self-absorbed," he said.
After the opener, "Under The Skin" is a bit more upbeat and contemplative, with standouts like the chipper "Show You How" and "Down On The Rodeo," which is epic, sentimental and radio-ready.
The guitarist initially began working on new solo material around 1994, but every time he started, it seemed as if Fleetwood Mac would re-form, put out a new album and tour. A lot of Buckingham's own material he had been working on during the '90s ended up on the 2003 Fleetwood Mac release "Say You Will."
He says the writing on "Under The Skin" is more current and he plans a follow-up early next year.
As for his live show, Buckingham said to expect a sparse setup with a mix of new and older tunes — topped-off by some rockers towards the end.
For now, the haze of the guitarist's former days appears to have lifted and he's content to roll the windows down, thump the music and just enjoy the ride — spectators be damned.
"This is kind of the best time of my life," he said.
Lindsey Buckingham
Where: Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Cost: $38.50 for reserved seating.
Information: foxtucsontheatre.org.
Reunion
So, when's the band getting back together?
Fleetwood Mac will return in 2008, Buckingham said.
Although Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" was famously used during the Bill Clinton campaign in the 1990s, the band's reunion isn't tied to the election year or a possible presidential run by Hillary Clinton, Buckingham said.