TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

This sound interesting, and will cause much discussion around these parts, I think.


Richard Thompson is working on "another electric album," which he plans to record in May and hopefully release before the end of the year.

The wrinkle this time, Thompson tells Billboard.com, is that he's recording with a trio that includes his regular rhythm section of bassist Taras Prodaniuk and drummer Michael Jerome. "We've being doing a few things as a three-piece, some local California things, a commando-raid type band," Thompson explains. "It doesn't require a lot of setting up, there's a minimal crew, we can jump into a van and do our thing. So I've been writing for that lineup, which has been kind of inspiring."

Thompson says he has "an album's worth" of material ready and describes it as "sort of folk-rock power trio music, somewhere between the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Peter, Paul & Mary -- the two great trio blueprints." But while 2010's Grammy Award-nominated "Dream Attic" was recorded live and mostly unadorned, Thompson says the new, as-yet untitled set will be "a produced, studio album. There's a certain amount of post-production I'd like to do on this one, and I also want to send tapes to people scattered around the world to add components to this record. So it'll be easier to do it in a studio this time."

http://www.billboard.com/news/richard-thompson-preps-new-album-of-folk-1005983552.story#/news/richard-thompson-preps-new-album-of-folk-1005983552.story

RT does Folk-Rock Power Trio - all I can say is "why not ?"  :) This could be glorious !

Will this be the line up for Cropredy?  ???

Sounds like RT is having a laugh - somewhere between the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Peter Paul & Mary indeed..

I think it could be great, too.

Electric Folkieland, anyone ?

From further down the link.
Besides working on the new album, Thompson is also gearing up for Fairport Convention's 45th anniversary celebration at this year's Cropredy Festival, which the band has hosted in early August each year since 1976. "I think a lot of the old band are coming," says Thompson, who plans to play a solo show as well as with Fairport Convention. "I hope everybody who's still above ground will be there. It coincides this year with the Olympics, which is a logical disaster. Many festivals in the U.K. are canceled this summer because the Olympics have taken every portable toilet in northern Europe, but Fairport is on a three-year lease, so we're carrying on."

I wouldn't think so, it might be too experimental at this stage, but if it's a band show rather than solo, we might get a taste or two of the album ?

I'd guess the giveaway is the word "solo".

Which probably means RT then Bellowhead on the Friday night. Rather like the sound of that.  ;D

That's certainly the way I see it....

Ah well, Friday Night standing in the pouring rain watching RT............................................................again.
There was one yr, I forget which, when it was very, very wet. Sheen and i were down the front watching RT headline friday. We turned round and most of the field was empty.

I

Folk-rock's answer to the "Trio of Doom"?  ;)

(McLaughlin/Pastorius/Williams)

Or RT then Joan Armatrading ?

I like the sound of that even more.

Sorry But I  agree with Ollie. I'm not really a Joan Armatrading fan, although I think it would be pleasant background for a sunny afternoon. But Friday night Bellowhead sounds heaven  :)

mm...It's an anniversary year.Maybe FC will headline friday again as well as saturday...

Thursday Bellowhead  with Joan before...
Friday FC with RT before..
Saturday FC with Dennis no i'm not the one with the eye patch before...

or some variation thereof?

Bellowhead have already confirmed they are playing Friday.

FC before them then - like with the Saw Doctors?

New songs - Sally B, Good Things Happen to Bad People (I think) and Little Sally Racket at the magnificent Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, Ponte Vedra Beach "Trio" gig - perhaps he's been listening to The Big Three!!

I saw him back in the middle of November on his US east coast solo tour.  He did a couple new songs that he said he hoped to record in the coming year.  "Good Things Happen to Bad People" sounds familiar.  I mean, in terms of the chorus of one of the songs; he didn't announce the names of any of the songs.  

With me, that's always the case with RT: is it a new song, or just an album I'd missed?  A couple years ago when I saw him, I mentioned that he did a number of unrecorded songs, and the person I was with just looked at me and replied, "No, those were from "The Old Kit Bag," which I hadn't bought yet and was only familiar with some of the songs.  But anyway, after he played the couple songs I didn't recognize, I was trying to figure out if they were new or just from an album I didn't own, and he make the comment that they were new.  

I'm not complaining when artists try out new material on stage, I actually like it a lot.  But rereading it, I suppose it might be taken that way.

Although... from the comments below the article - "My buddy (who'd never even heard of RT) said he was a cross between Jimi Hendrix and the Kingston Trio."  ::)

http://www.avclub.com/articles/richard-thompson,68991/

Thanks for the link - good interview and some nice (altho' familiar) clips..