Lindsey Buckingham on Finding Happiness Balancing an Enormous Band and a Cozy Solo Project (Q&A)

11/20/2012 by Chris Parker
Hollywood Reporter

As a guitarist known for his rich, almost orchestral finger-picked playing style, solo acoustic might be the last thing you expect from Lindsey Buckingham. But the Fleetwood Mac veteran isn’t limned in by expectations. (Something about co-penning a 40 million-selling album and being a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.) Last week he released Lindsey Buckingham: One Man Show, culled from his current solo American tour.

When commercial concerns became an issue in Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham’s experimental explorations manifested a solo career that has endured fits and starts. Of late he’s been quite prolific, releasing three discs in six years exploring the kind of intimate, keenly crafted and emotionally edgy songwriter pop favored by indie artists such as Sondre Lerche, Joe Pernice and Ron Sexsmith.

Following the raw, almost lo-fi intensity of 2011’s Seeds We Sow, on which he played every instrument, Buckingham took the next logical step embracing the austerity of the solo performer. He captured a Sept. 1 show in Des Moines, Iowa, and made it available online through the wonders of digital distribution.

Buckingham spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the freedom of being onstage alone, defying the mediocrity of commercially successful career artists and Fleetwood Mac’s immediate plans — calling from a concert stop near Grand Rapids, Mich., where, liberated from a tour bus, Buckingham had wandered off the beaten path again. Continue reading Lindsey Buckingham on Finding Happiness Balancing an Enormous Band and a Cozy Solo Project (Q&A)