Dressing up the Hard Rock
Star-Bulletin staff
features@...
A satiny red dress worn by Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks joins the
celebrity artifacts on display at the Hard Rock Cafe Maui. The Hard
Rock has undergone a "memorabilia overhaul," which means dozens of
items have been added to the displays. In celebration, Hard Rock is
hosting a performance by ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) at 9 p.m.
Sunday. Doors open at 7 p.m. Suggested donation is $8, to benefit
Hui Malama Learning Center. Ages 21 and up only.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/01/18/features/story02.html
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Posted on Thu, Jan. 18, 2007email thisprint this
Lindsey Buckingham: Going his own way -- for now
BY MARIJKE ROWLAND
McClatchy Newspapers
Even people who have nothing left to prove like to prove things to
themselves.

Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer/songwriter/guitarist
Lindsey Buckingham was the sonic architect behind Fleetwood Mac --
one of the most popular rock bands of all time. Alongside Stevie
Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie and John McVie, Buckingham
crafted such timeless hits as "Go Your Own Way," "Don't Stop," "Big
Love," "The Chain" and "Landslide." But the band's stratospheric
success was coupled with personal turmoil.

Buckingham and Nicks, who joined the band in 1975 as a couple, broke
up. That emotional turmoil can be heard throughout the group's
blockbuster 1977 album, "Rumours," which went on to become one of
the best-selling albums of all time.

Tension remained over the years, and in the '80s, members released
solo albums with varying degrees of success. By the '90s, the group
had scattered, only to be reunited in 1993 to play President
Clinton's inauguration ceremony. Clinton used the band's "Don't
Stop" as his campaign theme. The group made a full-fledged reunion
and tour in 1997; in 1998, members were inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame.

That same year, Buckingham and his then-girlfriend, now-wife,
Kristen Messner, had their first child. The couple, who married in
2000, now have three children, ages 8, 6 and 2. "It really is the
best time of my life, right now," Buckingham said in a recent phone
conversation from his home in Los Angeles.

Last year saw the release of his fourth solo album, "Under the
Skin." The stripped-down record showcases his signature guitar
playing and penchant for introspection.

Buckingham, 58, kicks off the second leg of his "Under the Skin"
solo tour Jan. 12. He spoke about his continued evolution, both
musically and personally.

Q: It's been 14 years since your last solo album. Why the wait and
why now?

A: Well, you know, it isn't for lack of intent in terms of putting
out a solo album. I think one of my main exercises for many years
has been to try to tend to the needs of the bigger picture, that
being Fleetwood Mac. All along, I wanted work the other side of it
as well. The solo work being the more experimental work -- the left
side of the palette. A couple of times since my last solo album, I
had gotten to a certain point with my work, but then the band wanted
to do something else. So that material ended up on the last studio
album Fleetwood Mac did (2003's "Say You Will) .We got done with the
last tour and a lot of things happened. I had gotten married and had
three children, all of which happened relatively late in life for
me. That informed a lot of the subject matter (on the new album),
someone growing up a certain way, after defining oneself in one way.

Q: How has that stripped-down sound translated to the tour?

A: It's not what you got, but what you do with what you got. The
approach we're taking may be executed by a few people, but it's
really about putting it all together where it has the same lift and
fidelity as the recorded version. We're using some samples here and
there. It has been going over amazingly well. It seems like we're up
there for a half hour, it goes by so quick. We have a nice
combination of new stuff that all seems to fit really well with the
older things. Toward the end of the set, we let it rock.

Q: How did you develop your unique finger-picking style of playing
electric guitar?

A: I started playing very young. I was probably 7. My brother
brought home "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis and that was a revelation,
like it probably was to many people. I had a small guitar and I
didn't take lessons. No one ever showed me what to do. I never
gravitated to a pick, I was just strumming with my hand. The hand
seemed like it wanted to be directly connected to the guitar. When
the first wave of rock 'n' roll settled down and got tainted by
Fabian or whatever, suddenly I listened to a lot of folk music. That
is the point where I started to get interested in finger picking. I
fooled around with some banjo for a while and also there was a
little classical influence. It's very hard for me to analyze
anything I do. Terminologywise, I am sort of a refined primitive.

Q: How has being a husband and father affected your music?

A: Lyrically it has answered a lot of questions that maybe had been
left hanging out there for a long time. The early successes of
Fleetwood Mac was a bittersweet thing for me. I was dealing with a
breakup. I was dealing with having to make hits for Stevie and lead
the band on a production and musical level, while never having
gotten closure with any of these emotional issues.

Having to see this person every day, you have to wall up your
feelings and go along with the task at hand. The aftermath left me
remote from certain things.

Then suddenly you're lucky enough to meet someone and have those
questions answered. Lyrically there is a lot about myself growing
up. The fact that the narrow line you walked as an artist --
forgoing a richer emotional life -- even if it got you to a good
place musically, you have to look at it as a thing in the past. Here
you are with children, who are very much in the present. They're
looking at you and they don't understand the push-pull.

It's a good shake-up for your priorities.

Q: So how do you balance your personal life with your Fleetwood Mac
and solo work?

A: Right now, I am just dealing with solo work. I've been waiting to
do this for a long time. I am going to do this album and will be
touring off and on through the summer. And then I'll do one more
solo album and after that get back into some sort of Fleetwood Mac
situation. Right now, it's a wonderful balance. I've gotten to a
point musically and creatively that I've been wanting to get to for
a while. These albums aren't about selling a million records; they
are about expressing yourself and getting your energy out in the way
you want to get it out.

Q: How has your relationship with the band evolved over the years?

A: Fleetwood Mac is more of a wild animal in terms of being able to
organize anything. A lot of this had to do with what Stevie was
doing (with her solo work). Now it's about what I am doing. It's
hard to get everyone on the same page at the same time. After I've
done these two albums, I'm jumping into the Fleetwood Mac scene for
as long as anybody wants to do it. We are still -- emotionally, as
friends and as people, working out all of those things that have
been left hanging out there all those years ago -- a work in
progress. We don't want to end up in a place where we don't all feel
like friends.

Q: What can people expect from the next solo album?

A: It was being called a rock album and there was a point when
people were thinking it would be more of a "normal" album or a more
radio-oriented album. But I am sort of putting myself in the
position of refusing to go away with this current album. In the
context of that, the perception of what the second album will be is
evolving as we go along. I'm not sure what it will be.

Q: Rolling Stone called you "one of rock's most undervalued
visionaries." Do you agree with that characterization? You
referenced it in your new album's first track, "Not Too Late."

A: It wasn't so much that (Rolling Stone) made me think, "Oh yeah,
I'm a visionary." It made me take a look at what I'd been doing. If
you go back to the "Tusk" album -- which was a radical left turn
from "Rumours" -- when it didn't sell, there was an arbitrary limit
put on what I could do in the band as a producer. They said, now we
have to go back and do "Rumours 2."

That was the only reason I started making solo albums. I couldn't go
back. I wanted to keep that side of my world alive. When you get to
that point where you are trying to define yourself in ways that
others would not like you to be defined, you find yourself pretty
much out there on your own. Over a period of time, you can get the
sense of being embattled, you have to be your own best booster. To
some degree, that is what came to mind (when I read the quote). It
wasn't that I'm a visionary or underappreciated. But another word
for that is "not particularly understood."
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/entertainment/16478379.htm?
source=rss&channel=belleville_entertainment
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Haze has lifted for Buckingham
Fleetwood Mac star hopes his solo effort will get 'Under The Skin'
By Kevin W. Smith
KSMITH@...
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.18.2007
advertisementIt'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.
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/caliente/164841.php
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caliente contest
If you know OKC bands, you could win cookbook
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.18.2007
advertisementFleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham takes the
stage Tuesday at the Fox Theatre fresh off his first solo album in
nearly 15 years, "Under the Skin," which made Rolling Stone's list
of the best 50 albums of 2006.
Buckingham told writer Kevin W. Smith that he enjoys a wide variety
of music, including rap.
Our question this week is what Oklahoma City psych-rockers did
Buckingham single out as one of the bands he has enjoyed in the 14-
year period between his latest solo releases? (You won't find the
answer in the story.)
Send your answer to Caliente, P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726-6807,
or by e-mail to caliente@... by 5 p.m. Monday. Include
your address and phone number.
Those who answer correctly will be entered into a drawing for one of
several cookbooks.
Last week's winners — Amy Carley, Denise Benavidez, Melinda
McNeilus, Risa Levy, Kelli Reynolds and Robert Sixkiller — each
received a DVD for kids.
The winners knew that Houston rapper Paul Wall, who performed at the
Rialto Theatre last weekend, recently introduced a line of grills
(think blinding smile, not BBQ).
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/caliente/164867.php