Teddy Thompson has announced seven shows in the UK this January – ie: next month. The acclaimed New York City-based singer/songwriter will be touring in support of his eighth studio album, ‘My Love Of Country’, which was released this past August. Joined by his band, the run begins January 20th in Glasgow and wraps January 27th in London where Thompson was born and raised. Tickets are on-sale now.
True to its title, ‘My Love Of Country’ presents Teddy Thompson offering deeply personal readings of ten classic country songs by songwriters like Buck Owens, Hank Cochran, Eddy Arnold, Cindy Walker and even his own father, Richard Thompson. The simplicity and emotional intensity of classic country has been a big part of Thompson’s own sound as an artist, and he has form – Back in 2007, he explored his roots with ‘Up Front and Down Low’, an album of Nashville golden era favourites.
“The goal was to do it in the way that country records I love – mostly from the ’60s – were made,” says Thompson. “Everything was mapped out, with charts and string parts in place. The musicians came in, and we cut the songs the way they did back then. We just blazed through them.”
Helping Thompson realize his vision for the new album was multi-instrumentalist producer David Mansfield, whose resume includes touring with Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, scoring Oscar-nominated films like The Apostle and years of high-profile session work with the likes of Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams and Dwight Yoakam. Mansfield and Thompson assembled a list of twenty titles, then whittled it down to ten. There are well-known standards, old and new, such as Hank Cochran & Harland Howard’s ‘I Fall To Pieces’ (a signature hit for Patsy Cline in 1961), Randy Travis’s 1989 western swing-flavored chart-topper ‘Is It Still Over?’ and Cindy Walker’s portrait of unrequited love, ‘You Don’t Know Me’ (a hit for both Eddy Arnold and Ray Charles). Adding balance are lesser-known gems such as Dolly Parton’s 1968 album track ‘Love and Learn,’ Don Everly’s ‘Oh, What A Feeling’ and a finely-etched drinking song, ‘I’ll Regret It All In The Morning,’ penned by Thompson’s father Richard Thompson. Recorded at Mansfield’s studio Hobo Sound in Hoboken, NJ, the album features a star-studded group of harmony vocalists, including Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Logan Ledger and Aoife O’Donovan added final touches.
“These are all songs that I’ve known and loved for years. That’s the real key, having them in your body for a long time, decades really. I didn’t really have to think at all about how to sing them. I just honored the originals,” explains Thompson. “In my favorite eras of music, it was all about the song. Most of the classics that I know and love were recorded by dozens and dozens of people. And it was all in the service of the song. I grew up with that being the most important thing. For this record, that was a huge part of it. I just want people to hear these songs.”
Teddy Thompson UK Tour Dates 2024:
20 January – Glasgow – City Halls
21 January – Sunderland – The Fire Station
22 January – Nottingham – Rescue Rooms
23 January – Milton Keynes – The Stables
24 January – Bath – Komedia
26 January – Hassocks – Mid-Sussex Music Hall
27 January – London – Cadogan Hall
Sometimes the songs that sound so simple are the hardest ones to write….a great collection of classics
Caught the tour last week in Milton Keynes. Really good – with a sympathetic band and Mr Thompson’s great vocals and star-quality stage presence,The Stables was a brilliant venue for this kind of show (also saw Gretchen Peters here a while back). Final hat-tip to Lauren Housley as the support act (new to me but impressive despite atrouser suit made from 1970s curtains).