Now in its 55th year, an impressive achievement in itself, Cambridge Folk Festival continues to go from strength to strength and this year’s event was one of the best. At the top of the bill there were a lot of heavy hitters and they all delivered. Lucinda Williams wiped away memories of her dreadful appearance a few years ago with an outstanding set that, while it wasn’t the complete airing of ‘Car Wheels On A Gravel Road’ that she’s been touring was nevertheless full-on, committed, and contained a lot of fan-pleasers. Her backing trio Buick 6 was also outstanding, particularly Stuart Mathis on guitar. Continue reading “Cambridge Folk Festival, Cherry Hinton Hall, Cambridge, 1st-4th August 2019”
You know how some birthday parties can be a bit of a washout? Well, that’s not going to happen whilst Richard Thompson is on the case, his invitation lays out his expectation for a good time: “Please join me” he has said “as I celebrate my 70th birthday with an evening of music! The venue is the Royal Albert Hall, London, the date is 30th September, there will be many guests covering 50 years plus of music and a memorable evening guaranteed.” 
Richard Thompson has announced an extensive UK tour for October and November 2018 in advance of a new studio album which will be released later this year on Proper Records, kicking off in lovely Liverpool’s Philharmonic on 11th October. Last year, Thompson released two volumes of acoustic recordings: ‘Acoustic Classics Vol. II’ featuring acoustic renderings of songs from the Richard Thompson catalogue, and ‘Acoustic Rarities’ featuring new recordings of some of the more obscure songs in his repertoire. He celebrated the 50th anniversary of Fairport Convention, the groundbreaking band he co-founded as a teenager in the ‘60s, with a performance at its annual Cropredy Festival last August. He also briefly did a remarkably authentic stint as Abe Simpson when he berated the state of modern music at the AMAUKs last year. 
As we reported last month, folk legend Richard Thompson will release Acoustic Classics Vol. II on his own Beeswing record label, distributed via Proper, on August 11. On the heels of Acoustic Classics in 2014, the follow-up will feature acoustic renderings of classic songs from his catalogue, some previously recorded by other singers, some previously available only in a band format. A second album Acoustic Rarities will be released later in the year featuring new recordings of some of the more obscure songs in the Thompson catalogue, some previously existing only as cover versions. 
Following the success of his Acoustic Classics album in 2014 when the celebrated singer songwriter and guitarist revisited his back catalogue Richard Thompson returns to the format with two new albums which will be released simultaneously on August 11th.