Bankrate: How did you manage to pull your career back from the abyss?

Frampton: I decided to take a break from about '82 to '86 and that period was both great and not so great at the same time. I got married and we had our first child, so it was a time when I was actually taking the time to take stock of what went on. So yes, there were realizations that were going on during that period that were horrendous, financial things and all that. But on the other hand, it was the first break I'd had since I started my career at 16. I hadn't stopped. So it was a needed break. What goes up must come down. It was obviously not a thrilling period, but all of a sudden now I had family and there were other things that were more important than just me and my career. It's funny how things come along that change you and your perceptions completely. I definitely felt that thrashing myself to death on the road was not necessary, unless I wanted to do it. It just made me realize that more time should be spent with the family and less time on the road.

Bankrate: You returned to the road with Bowie in 1987.

Frampton: Yeah, that was definitely a wonderful thing to be able to do because I could go and do it on somebody else's ticket, it wasn't "my career." Also, David asking me -- we all know the guitarists he's played with and has championed, it's a lovely list of great guitarists -- put me, in my own mind, in a category that I felt was wonderful, that he thought I should be there. To be honest, I don't think a lot of people thought of me that way; in fact, I don't even think half of them knew that I played guitar. I started off the gunslinger at 16, and Dave, who was always good at reinventing himself, was trying to help me reinvent myself, and he did a wonderful job. It was a gift he gave me.

Bankrate: You've received rave reviews and a couple Grammy nominations for your latest, all instrumental album, "Fingerprints." How does it feel to be recognized for what you always considered to be your real gift?

Frampton: This is like the instrumental version of my first solo album, "Wind of Change" to me; it's like starting again. The challenge of "Wind of Change" was that it was open-ended; there were no expectations, none whatsoever, even from me. I didn't expect anything -- I just wrote and recorded and did my best, and it turned out to be a very eclectic album. So to do this instrumental record, it was preordained that it should be a trip through my influences, through what had inspired me, starting with obviously Hank Marvin and the Shadows, because without them, and especially him, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. I would probably be a director of cinematography somewhere!