The first set of dates kicks off October 6 in Atlanta at the Variety Playhouse. Buckingham is offering fans who pre-order the new CD through Ticketmaster.com the opportunity to be the first in their market to purchase tickets.

The goal of the ticket pre-sale is to thwart scalpers, and allow fans the best chance at prime seats. In order to ensure that this happens, fans are limited to two tickets per CD – although there’s no limit on the number of CDs purchased.

Pre-sale tickets are nontransferable and must be picked up at the venue the night of the show by presenting the card used to purchase them and a valid ID. As a final safeguard, Buckingham and his management are reserving the right to cancel without notice any tickets suspected to be in the hands of scalpers.

In spite of having been an integral part of an incredibly successful band, Buckingham has always somehow managed to retain a low-profile. He has had an ongoing love-hate relationship with the band, and the fame and commercial success that came with it.

“Fleetwood Mac has been one of the joys of my life, but that kind of success is a double-edged sword. You’re under tremendous pressure to sell as much and as often as possible, to become an assembly line, to feed the philosophy, ‘If it works, run it into the ground,'” he said.

Although he left Fleetwood Mac in 1987, he rejoined the band in 1997 and again in 2003 for the ambitious and critically acclaimed album Say You Will. The reunited Mac, minus Christine McVie, followed up the release with a pair of world tours in 2003 and 2004.

Skin marks a departure of sorts for the eclectic Buckingham. Instead of the big, glossy production that fans of Buckingham’s Fleetwood Mac songs are used to hearing, the album is a much more intimate work that features severely stripped-down arrangements.

Buckingham told USA Today, “There are basically no drums, very little bass. On a musical level, I’ve been trying to distill things.”

Further adding to his reputation as an artist who can be counted on to do the unexpected, he went on to say that he’s planning to release a “more rocking” companion CD sometime next year after completing his U.S. tour.