Buckingham’s Fleetwood Mac balancing act

Reunion: Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham says he’d struggled in the past with the challenge of balancing his band duties with his solo career.

But he’s resolved the issue – and he’s hoping Mac’s 2013 world tour will lead to the completion of an album he, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie started earlier this year.

Buckingham, who releases a solo live album next week, tells Rolling Stone: “There was a period of time where there was a level of frustration. The Fleetwood Mac agenda seemed to loom a lot larger.

“I would try to put together material for a solo album and there would be some kind of intervention,” he reflects light-heartedly.

He’s now at ease with the situation and says:”If you’re going to participate in a band, you’ve got to be a band member in good standing, and you’ve got to think about the needs of the whole.”

But he adds: “Sometimes I with we were the Eagles – one thing they’ve always been able to do is want the same thing for the same reasons. They probably don’t share the same sensibilities as people, and they may not spend much time together, but somehow they’re able to put that aside and get on with the business of doing business. There’s something to be said for that.”

Buckingham gathered with drummer Fleetwood and bassist McVie in the early summer and reports his bandmates “were playing their asses off.”

He continues: “We cut some tracks and did enough for maybe half an album. But you’ve got to get Stevie Nicks on board with that. At the time she was quite caught up in what she was doing.”

Last month Nicks confirmed Mac were preparing for a reunion tour, saying: “We go into rehearsals somewhere around the end of February. If everything goes to plan we should probably be out by the end of April or May, I would think.”

They last toured in 2009, with 2003′s Say You Will their most recent album of new material. A planned reunion tour was shelved two years ago over scheduling problems. Next year is the 45th anniversary of the band’s first release, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac.