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Richard Thompson.
 For the first couple of decades of his career it seemed unlikely we would ever see Richard Thompson perform live in Australia. Despite his early-won reputation for the depth of his songwriting and the brilliance of his guitar work, we had to be content with recorded product and the occasional video.
Thankfully, as he approaches his fortieth year in the music business, Thompson has become a more regular visitor here, making the journey every couple of years or so. "I suppose I just didn't really have the agent in place or something, until the mid-eighties anyway," he explains. "I wasn't quite geared up for it."
After this long, he could be forgiven for slowing down a tad; yet his schedule of touring and recording is as hectic as ever. Now he is freed from major labels, Thompson is releasing live and studio CDs and DVDs with amazing regularity. There has even been a five-CD box set of rarities, simply entitled 'RT', recently issued by English specialist label Free Reed.
"It's probably not for the first time buyer, it's not a Greatest Hits record. It goes into deeper areas and more obscure areas in some cases. There's lots of out-takes and lots of songs that haven't appeared anywhere before. I think it's something for the real collector, for the real fan."
All this hard work does pay off, apparently. At this year's BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Thompson was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award, voted by his contemporaries. When asked if it makes a difference knowing that his work is appreciated, he pauses. "Yes, it does make a difference. It's a tricky one but I think if you're an artist you need a certain amount of appreciation. You don't just make music in a vacuum, you do it to communicate with other people, and there's varying degrees of that. If it's just a few people, that might be enough but if your musical peers like you, that's probably the best thing of all."
As if that wasn't enough, the 1969 Fairport Convention album 'Liege & Lief' won the popular vote for Most Influential Folk Album Of All Time; Thompson then joined that reformed line-up to perform the classic song Matty Groves - late singer Sandy Denny's place being taken by Chris While.
"I'm glad people appreciate the significance of that record. At the time we did it, we were very proud of it and we thought it was a very groundbreaking and direction-pointing record so it's very nice to get something for that after 35 years. Chris While's great. I think of all the people who have had to step into Sandy's shoes, which is a terrible onus, she's certainly one of the best people to reinterpret songs that Sandy originally made her own."
In more recent times, Thompson has performed his '1000 Years Of Popular Music' show, exhibiting his versatility on songs ranging from medieval ballads to Bowling For Soup's 1985. One surprise inclusion lately was the Easybeats' Friday On My Mind which will be on a forthcoming DVD, and would seem a fine way to ingratiate himself to a local audience, but it's probably not to be. "It's just a bit hard to play solo. On the 1000 Years show, we do it with three of us which is pretty skeletal anyway. With acoustic guitar, percussion and a bit of keyboard and three voices, you can just about get away with it. But it's obviously one of the all-time classic great pop songs. It's great fun to play."
For this tour, Thompson promises songs spanning his entire four-decade career. Then there's a new Richard Thompson Band CD to plan, followed by a couple of acoustic projects. He doesn't seem to stop, mainly because he doesn't see the need to.
On stage, the material ranges from the trademark character-laden songs based on the seedier side of life to fun songs such as Hot For The Smarts but whichever way the music takes him, Thompson is always a picture of concentration.
"I think when you're actually performing... when it gets good, something else takes over. When you can free your mind of distractions and just get inside the music, it is coming from somewhere else, it always seems to me."
"Another forty years to you," I couldn't help but add.
"Well, with a bit of luck, you know? A few more would be great. I appreciate every one."
Michael Hunter
 | Richard Thompson performs at the Norwood Concert Hall on Mon 6 March. |
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