WagooMusic

Going his own way for the past few years, Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham recently returned with his sixth solo effort, “Seeds We Sow.”

Unlike his earlier work, which was dark, enigmatic and oftentimes gloomy, this 10-track affair finds the 62-year-old in heart-shaped peace. Now married with three kids, the Grammy Award-winning and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s new CD ranges from the soft and melodic “End of Time” to the touching “When She Comes Down” and the hushed “She Smiles Sweetly.”

Now comes Buckingham’s tour, which includes a Nov. 6 show at the Palace Theatre in Lorain. Fans can expect to hear a m lange of solo tunes and Fleetwood Mac songs.

The Vindicator talked to Buckingham about “Seeds We Sow,” his visit last season to “Saturday Night Live” and whether his guitar playing is often lost on younger generations.

Q. In terms of your solo career, this has been a relatively prolific time for you. your recent effort includes 2006’s “Under the Skin,” 2008’s “Gift of Screws” and now “Seeds We Sow.” how do all three albums fit together?

A. if you look at them as kind of a trio of albums, you can see the first one as being very much about acoustic work. the second one being more ensemble, with John (McVie) and Mick (Fleetwood) playing on quite a bit of that album. and somehow this new one seems to kind of overview everything I’ve been working on over the last six years, and maybe putting it in its best light. from a subject matter standpoint, something that was a great gift for me a few years back was having children. I had a lot of crazy girlfriends in the early days, and I kind of held off being a family member. so probably the occurrence of getting married and having kids relatively late at a time, I was ready for it was something that really enriched my outlook on the road and tempered it a great deal.

Q. What’s interesting is during your three solo CD run, Fleetwood Mac hasn’t released anything. Did you ever think that would happen?

A. Part of it is that the first two [solo albums] are certainly an outgrowth of me saying to the band just give me this time to do this. the other part of it is as a band Fleetwood Mac is a little bit chaotic on a political level, more so than most bands. a lot of bands seem to get their idea of what they want to accomplish in a given time together, and we’ve always been a group that everyone seems to want to do something different at a different time. so it creates longer gaps between mainstream projects.

Q. over the past year, Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader has been parodying you in a recurring sketch. how did you react when you first heard about it?

A. my reaction was sort of like, “Well, it’s kind of obscure, isn’t it?” at the same time, I took it as a compliment, because obviously someone was kind of tuned in to what it was I was about. and even the fact that the punch line of the skit was basically that he never gets to talk, that they introduce him and then he waits to be given a voice and he never actually is allowed to have the voice, there was a certain level that resonated with me. but the skit cracked me up. I thought it was great.

Q. Finally, for Gen Xers and younger generations, who came to know the Fleetwood Mac catalog from classic rock radio beating your iconic material to death, it seems as though your guitar prowess is either underrated or underappreciated. why is this?

A. In the course of being in Fleetwood Mac you go with whatever your strengths are. There’s a level of subtlety to some of the contributions I’ve made that probably is easy to underrate if you want to look at it that way. also, I’m not an Eddie Van Halen who plays over the top of something. It’s kind of hard to get a fix on what it is I do. so it’s not surprising that maybe there is a certain level of not really focusing on the “rock guitar” kind of thing as a clich . so yeah, there’s been a tendency to sort of not really hear what’s been going on in terms of what I’ve contributed, but sometimes that goes along with just doing your work properly. and if that’s the tradeoff, I’ll take it.

A group of British and Irish recording artists, including Sting and Bono, came together in 1984 under the name Band Aid and raised money and awareness for the famine in Ethiopia with the song, “Do They know It’s Christmas?”

On Oct. 16 in Denville, a different form of band aid will fill Broadway with music as it raises money for merchants affected by the flood from Hurricane Irene.

As the advertisement for Band+Aid on Broadway states, it will be a time to “Rock Out for Relief!” From 10:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., 12 local bands will play, including Deleasa, Blue Soul, Bobby Lynch Band, Edge of Seventeen, Full Moon Fever, Naked Twister, Trippin Carla, and Toxin.

The earlier Band Aid was the inspiration behind Michael Gavin’s musical extravaganza. The Denville resident wanted an event to get people to Broadway, right where Hurricane Irene’s damage was done, essentially bringing customers to the very shops that have been closed since the end of August.

The event coincides with the Denville up and Running 5K run/walk and street festival for which Denville merchants and restaurants will be open or will have booths to sell their goods.

Gavin is hopeful that the day will bring in enough money to help the merchants still closed “over the hump” so they can get their shops in shape and reopened. “We can’t get this to happen quick enough,” he said.

The idea of bringing Denville alive with the sound of music was not Gavin’s alone. several others also thought a concert would make a good fundraiser. There was Harmonies for Healing, a classical music concert on Oct. 8 and Dan Lefsky, the organizer for the 5K run/walk, had always envisioned music as part of the day. As for the other musically minded residents, Councilman Tom Andes put them in touch with one another and the committee for Band+Aid on Broadway was born.

Finding bands willing to play for free was not a problem. in fact, Gavin said they had to turn bands down for it all to fit within the allocated time.

There will be two stages to ensure continuous music throughout the eight hours. Gavin noted that special thanks goes to East Hanover Township Mayor Joseph Pannullo and his Public Works Department for loaning Denville a “state-of-the-art Showmobile stage.”

Gavin said, “We couldn’t pull this event off without them and for that we are very thankful.”

As for the music, committee member Alan Tecchio said, “We have a great mix of talent for this day. There are a few very popular cover bands that play the club circuit like Naked Twister, The Bobby Lynch Band and Trippin Carla, plus some good tribute acts like Full Moon Fever (Tom Petty) and Edge of Seventeen (Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac.) A band I cobbled together with current and former Hades band mates will be doing some hard rock and metal. we are calling ourselves The MetalMen. There are a few younger groups from town who got their start in the ‘Denville Rocks’ Rec Program like All Four Years, Goodbye Friday and a band that has actually played with Bret Michaels and Twisted Sister called Toxin.”

He added, “I personally was not affected by Irene but I have neighbors who own homes and even businesses in town who lost everything so to be able to help them in some small way is priceless. Hopefully we will all be able to do some good for those affected and have some fun onstage in the process.”

Since Hurricane Irene, residents of Denville and neighboring towns have expressed interest in lending a hand to the 300 homes and 70 businesses affected. A fundraising volunteer meeting drew 180 attendees. To date, more than $125,000 has been donated to he Denville Hurricane Relief Fund.

Garage sales, car washes, spaghetti dinners, and can shakes have taken place, but it is the Denville up and Running and Band+Aid on Broadway that is the largest fundraising event. Besides the music and 5K race, which begins at 11 a.m., the day will include a Zumbathon at 9:30 a.m. and throughout the day, local businesses will offer food and merchandise.

Andes said, “We all had friends and favorite businesses that suffered losses. The people of Denville have always been there to help those in need. The outpouring of kindness and generosity has been unbelievable. I am extremely proud to be a part of this fine community.”

For a schedule of fundraising events, visit denvillenj.org.

Lady Gaga got a chance to serenade former President bill Clinton during a concert to commemorate Clinton’s foundation held in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 15, called “A Decade of difference: A Concert Celebrating 10 Years of the William J. Clinton Foundation.”

The concert included performers like Kenny Chesney, Usher, Bono and The Edge, Somali rapper K’Naan and Colombian singer Juanes.

However, it was Lady Gaga who stole the show with two custom renditions of her hit songs “Bad Romance” and “You and I.”

Clinton has been celebrating his belated 65th birthday (which was on August 19) with a three-day Hollywood party, including a gala dinner with a performance by Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks on Friday, a brunch on Saturday morning, the Hollywood Bowl concert on Saturday night and a Presidential Golf Outing on Sunday.

Lady Gaga whished President Clinton a happy birthday during her set. “I am having my first Marilyn moment — I always wanted to have one,” the singer said, referring Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of “Happy Birthday” which she sang to then President John F. Kennedy in may 1962. “And I was hoping that it didn’t involve an accident with some pills and a strand of pearls, so here we are.”

The singer then performed several of her hits including “The Edge of Glory” and “Bad Romance” which she changed to “Bill Romance.” During her performance of “You and I” she changed the lyrics from “You said sit back down where you belong / In the corner of my bar with your high heels on / Sit back down on the couch where we / made love the first time and you said to me” to “So Hillary or bill, sit back down where you belong / In the oval office with those high heels on / Sit down on a couch while we / Watched you charm the whole world in the country.”

Proceeds from the concert will go to the William J. Clinton Foundation, which has sought to improve global health, strengthen economies worldwide, protect the environment and promote healthier childhoods.

Check out parts of Lady Gaga’s performance below.