MusicRadar

After a hectic 2010, Richard Thompson could be excused for taking things a little easier at the beginning of this year, but his diary is already fit to bursting for the next couple of months, with more irons in the fire ahead. He's currently on his lengthiest UK tour for more than 20 years, which will be followed by a more curious booking, cruising the Caribbean in the company of several other top-flight musicians from the world of folk and country music.

Thompson's UK shows are in support of Dream Attic, the highly-acclaimed album he released last summer which has earned him a Grammy nomination. He took the unusual step of recording it in front of live audiences during a handful of dates on the US west coast last February. Between its recording and its release, he took up residence on London's South Bank as the 2010 curator of the Meltdown festival, the annual series of music shows inviting all manner of high-profile collaborations.

The 10-day event found Thompson treading the boards almost every night, either guesting with the likes of Elvis Costello and Paolo Nutini, sparring with his old friend Loudon Wainwright, conducting a master class with his own favourite guitarists (including the legendary James Burton and jazz virtuoso John Etheridge), reviving his chronological history lesson 1000 Years Of Popular Music, hosting an evening of political song, or presenting the UK premiere of his evocative stage musical Cabaret Of Souls.

For many, the highlight of Meltdown was the tribute to Thompson's long-time friend Kate McGarrigle, for which he brought together her singer-songwriter children Rufus and Martha Wainwright, plus such famous fans as Emmylou Harris, Nick Cave and Neil Tennant. The show also saw the first unaccompanied performance by Richard and his former wife Linda in almost 30 years.

At The Roxy, circa 1998 © Henry Diltz/CORBIS

The publicity surrounding Meltdown may arguably have had a hand in Thompson coming to the attention of the establishment, who bestowed an OBE on him in the New Years honours list – not that he's given it much thought while busying himself on his upcoming projects.

In addition to the UK tour and the Caribbean cruise, MusicRadar can exclusively reveal that a box set of BBC sessions is due in the spring. The three-CD set will include an entire disc of Richard & Linda songs recorded in the '70s, many for John Peel, plus further discs of his '80s/'90s output for the corporation and more recent tracks. An additional DVD trawls the archives of The Old Grey Whistle Test and beyond.

For now, though, the UK tour is foremost in Thompson's mind, a live outing for the tracks from Dream Attic – although the album in itself was "live". He spoke at length to MusicRadar about the year ahead.

What was the thinking behind recording Dream Attic in front of an audience?

"My thinking was probably confused and muddled, haha! No, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to trade off the focus you get in the studio for the energy you get from playing live.

"People often come up to me and say they really like the albums but prefer the live versions of the songs. In concert they tend to have more energy, so I wanted to try and short circuit the process and go straight to the stage. It was really interesting to do it, and I think it's been fairly successful."

Next: more on Dream Attic and guest musicians

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