Richard Thompson

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'The finest rock songwriter after Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix' – Los Angeles Times

In 2017, Ivor Novello Award-winning and GRAMMY® Award-nominated legend Richard Thompson gave himself up to the music itself. Picking up a guitar, emotions echoed through his deft fleet-fingered fretwork, poetic songwriting, impassioned picking. Those transmissions comprise his nineteenth solo album, 13 Rivers.

'I never really think about what songs mean,” he admits. “I just write them. Some of them reflect on what happened a few months ago or even a year ago. It’s a process of surveying my life and where I was at.'

Thompson’s influence can’t be overstated. Everybody from Robert Plant, Don Henley, and Elvis Costello to REM, Sleater-Kinney and David Byrne has covered his music. However, 13 Rivers represents another high watermark.

'There are 13 songs on the record, and each one is like a river,' Richard says. 'Some flow faster than others. Some follow a slow and winding current. They all culminate in this one body of work.'

In many ways, his career has pointed towards such a statement. Powered by evocative songcraft, jaw-dropping guitar playing, and indefinable spirit, this venerable icon holds a coveted spot on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and counts a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association in Nashville, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BBC Awards and an Order of the British Empire among his many accolades.