MusicRadar

Folk legend Richard Thompson will be in full-on kid-in-a-toy-shop mode when he lines up alongside some legendary guitar players at the Meltdown festival 2010 on London's South Bank later this month. Thompson has put together an eclectic mix of live music events as this year's curator, stepping into shoes previously filled by such names as David Bowie, Nick Cave, Elvis Costello and Scott Walker.

In addition to several gigs with Thompson at the helm - including the UK premiere of his musical Cabaret Of Souls, a two-hander with old friend Loudon Wainwright, a revival of the critically acclaimed history trawl 1000 Years Of Popular Music - the Meltdown lineup also includes solo shows by Elvis Costello and Seasick Steve, a tribute to the late Kate McGarrigle featuring Nick Cave, Rufus Wainwright, Emmylou Harris and others, and a recording of the long-running radio comedy I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue ("I love playing CDs of it to the locals in Los Angeles where I live," says Thompson, "they just don't get it!").

"Having put this thing together I just want to see it myself, I want to be in the stalls taking everything in." Richard Thompson

"I'll be moseying around throughout the whole thing, hopping up on stage during other people's shows, but I'm trying not to end up playing with everybody, no matter how tempting that might be," he says. "In all honesty, having put this thing together I just want to see it myself, I want to be in the stalls taking everything in."

Arguably, however, the performance Thompson is most looking forward to is Six Strings/Six Guitars, a night where he shares the stage with some of his favourite players, exchanging riffs, licks and anecdotes. Here he gives MusicRadar the lowdown on the line-up:

James Burton

© Robert Knight/www.fender.com

"I probably first heard James when I was about 10 years old, playing on Ricky Nelson's hits – obviously without knowing who he was at that stage. I would have been about 16 when I really discovered him, though, and realised just how cool he was.

"His work with Elvis Presley in the late '60s and early '70s is well-known, but he also played the lead part on Dale Hawkins' Susie Q when he was just 15. His session work is legendary; he played dobro on Jeannie C Riley's big country hit Harper Valley PTA, he's on a couple of Buffalo Springfield tracks which are just beautiful, and of course he's all over Gram Parsons' records.

"I'd say he invented several styles of guitar playing, he was pretty much the architect of country rock. When he was in the house band on the radio show Louisiana Hayride he'd watch the steel player and figure out how to replicate his sound. He switched to a lighter gauge of string and started bending the notes in the same way, and that opened up a whole new world for a lot players.

"I think he was probably the first person to get a great sound out of a Fender Telecaster, a kind of hollow but beautiful sound that really influenced a lot people. He also invented a kind of cross-picking technique which has its roots in traditional country but brings in more bluesy elements."

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