A dwelling legend of folk-rock, Richard Thompson has been incomes followers and rave opinions as a solo artist for greater than 40 years – and nicely earlier than that in his partnership with then-wife Linda Thompson and as lead guitarist in Fairport Conference. On his first album in six years, Ship to Shore, the singer/songwriter/guitar hero continues to fuse British folks reels and ballads with American rock and roll in his singular fashion.

You as soon as mentioned that when writing a brand new album, you retain “workplace hours” and compose new materials from roughly 9 a.m. to five p.m. Is that also the method?
I now work 7 a.m. to midday; if it’s going nicely, I’ll resume after lunch. That doesn’t imply I don’t have the antennae out the remainder of the time.

Do you employ completely different guitars, or stick to 1 or two?
I feel completely different fashions have completely different songs in them – perhaps one thing to do with the overtones. You understand how you could find one chord that sounds good on a horrible guitar? So, it’s useful to have numerous devices round, together with some you’re less-familiar with.

As a participant, you’ve all the time sounded distinctive. How did you keep away from the Clapton/Beck/Hendrix clichés within the late ’60s?
At 14, I sounded similar to the U.Okay. blues gamers. Then I spotted it was an overcrowded scene and I attempted to have completely different influences.

Your lead licks on “Possibly” and different cuts on the brand new album comprise loads of double-stops – typically they sound extra like pedal-steel guitar. How did you develop that multiple-string bending fashion?
I had a pedal-steel compilation album – I feel it was on Starday Information – and I cherished the concept of utilizing these licks on the guitar. Nothing distinctive about that; James Burton was doing the identical factor a decade earlier and the B-Bender was an analogous thought. That’s one other factor that took me away from sounding like a U.Okay. bluesman.

“Belief” has a powerful, however understated, guitar and rhythm groove. It simmers, with out turning up the warmth too excessive. How did that develop within the studio?
I wished a Motown form of groove with the lyrics coming over it at half-speed. The lyric can sound reflective, however you possibly can nonetheless dance to it. It didn’t change a lot between the demo I despatched to the band and the completed product.

The solo in “The Concern That By no means Leaves” has a beguiling guitar lead that matches the lyrics very nicely. Can the abstraction of a solo assist the narrative or intent of the lyrics?
It’s supposed to do this in all cases. A guitar solo is a narrative instructed by different means – an extension of the narrative.

“The Outdated Pack Mule” has a traditional Richard Thompson solo – fingerstyle with heavy modulation. Which pedals did you employ for that impact?
I feel that was a Dunlop rotary-speaker pedal. They break rather a lot, so not one thing I might depend on out on the highway, however they sound good.

Which different guitars and amps did you employ?
There was a Strat in Coral Pink end, assembled by my tech, Bobby Eichorn. I’ve a black SG, gifted by Bobby, as nicely, numerous Lowden acoustics, and one outdated Martin that sounded not so good to the ear however recorded nicely.

I took my normal amps to the studio – Headstrongs and Fenders. However as is usually the case, those mendacity round within the studio served higher. There was an outdated Fender Princeton, a Vox AC15, and a Magnatone with the pitch-change vibrato.

You’ve lived within the U.S. for many years, however your music nonetheless beckons us to the British Isles. How do you preserve that cultural connection? Is it planted in your DNA?
I’m cut up between New Jersey and the UK. I’ve all the time felt culturally British, and a track panorama may be one thing you carry round inside you; it doesn’t get too affected by wherever you occur to search out your self. I preferred the concept of getting a powerful base to work from and reaching out from there. I consider my base as being British conventional music, however there’s additionally Scottish music, there’s Irish music. There’s jazz and nation and classical. So far as I’m involved, as soon as you determine your base, you possibly can attain out anyplace. It’ll nonetheless be you ringing via, wherever you resolve to go musically.

As a younger participant, did you develop up on Bert Weedon guitar-tutorial books and Shadows information?
Precisely that! Everybody began on Bert’s Play In A Day, and you actually may play one thing in a day. The Shads have been an enormous affect – I nonetheless play a Strat, for Pete’s sake. In truth, Shadows information nonetheless sound wonderful. There have been actual drum and bass sounds, a fab guitar tone, and all that EMI know-how that served the Beatles so nicely a couple of years later.

This text initially appeared in VG’s July 2024 problem. All copyrights are by the creator and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.