ISSUE #25 MMUSICMAG.COM Q&A p amela Littky

RICHARD THOMPSON The British folk-rock hero makes an Americana connection on his latest

RichaRd Thompson is noT conTenT head it’s a bit freer. it’s not so tied down to Buddy recorded at his house, and there was to stay in one musical place. since the patterns that your fingers fall into. so you can a certain sensibility and atmosphere to them. 1960s, when his ace guitar skills led imagine slightly beyond what you normally it turned out to be a fantastic choice. Fairport convention into the rarified league do, and at a later stage you can refer to an of groundbreaking musicians who invented instrument and bring it down to earth more. What made it so desirable? British folk rock, he’s been something of a it’s like you’re walking down the street, and Because it’s a house, it’s a relaxed human prism, shifting and turning his talents there’s a rhythm to walking, and you might get atmosphere. he records on the ground floor to spotlight musical beauty—sometimes in an idea that fits that rhythm. it’s nice to keep and lives upstairs. so the drums were in one the unlikeliest of places, as when he chose to it all floating in your own head for a while. corner, and the tape machine was in another cover Britney spears’ “oops!...i did it again,” corner, and i’m in the kitchen alcove with the for a live album in 2003. Tapping nashville Do you write one project at a time? coffee machine. it’s all very cozy and low- veteran Buddy miller to helm his new album, more and more i write with specific projects key, more than what you can achieve in the Electric, Thompson unabashedly amps up in mind, but i have a few projects on the go studio. There is no red light, so you can drift americana and injects it with a healthy dose all the time. i’ll think, “This is a good song into recording, and suddenly you’ve done it. of celtic sound. for that acoustic project,” or “That’s a good one for the theater thing i was thinking of.” Was recording a long process? How did you approach the songwriting? so there are always a few choices where We recorded most of the songs in four in this case, i was interested to write for a a song can be placed. But i do find that days—and then messed around for another trio. We had been doing some shows as i am project-driven. week, doing a few things, trying to justify a trio and i thought, “This is an interesting our existence. format.” it’s quite inspiring to plan things this Why choose Buddy Miller? way because with a trio you have to think i don’t always hire producers. But i thought it Do you enjoy playing older songs? differently, and different things occur to you. would be interesting to look outside for this There are some i can’t relate to, songs i one and figured Buddy would be the most wrote when i was 18. i wasn’t sure what Do you write without an instrument? interesting person to work with. of course, i was doing when i wrote some of them That’s true—sometimes i do write without an it meant taking the band and shipping all the in the first place. still, it is nice to revisit instrument, but i refer to an instrument from gear to nashville. But i believed it would be some old songs. time to time. sometimes when it’s just in your the right environment—i’d heard the albums –Nancy Dunham

‘Sometimes I write without an instrument. When it’s in your head it’s a bit freer.’

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