He's already achieved more as a songwriter and instrumentalist than most musicians could do in a lifetime. His sound is familiar, with ties to practically every Western genre imaginable and many that lie beyond our horizons. His colleagues, ranging back to Jimi Hendrix and including today's young guns, unify through time in admiration of his accomplishments.

And so it is hardly surprising that Richard Thompson, nonpareil guitarist and perceptive observer of life's persistent ironies, has produced another masterpiece — "The Old Kit Bag". For more than thirty years Thompson has grown as an artist by carefully paring his work down to its essence. As a culmination of this process, "The Old Kit Bag", recorded in sparce trio format with minimal overdubs, is a textbook lesson on how to convey layers of meaning with minimal gestures.Down the line from sunny Los Angeles, Richard Thompson spoke to Joe Matera about his new record, gear and his continuing influence on countless of British guitarists.

Joe Matera: The reviews for "The Old Kit Bag" have been very positive. The Sunday Times for example summed it up perfectly: "…his best album in nearly a decade... stunning guitar work".

Richard Thompson: "The reviews have all been pretty positive on a whole so it’s great. Also being off a major label, it’s really great to own a record. It’s the first time I’ve really done it and I should have done it 30 years ago!"

JM: What sort of approach do you use when it comes to songwriting?

RT: "I just acquire songs as I tend to write and then put songs into different heaps for different projects. I’ve got a solo acoustic project that I’m working on so some songs go in that pile. This record was the distilation of the electric pile, the full band album pile. I don’t think there’s a thematic thread on this record but there is an atmosphere that runs through the songs."

JM: When it comes to your guitar playing you seem most comfortable just playing for the song?

RT: "I always try and play to what the song needs. I like to think that if I have any strength as a guitar player then it’s in interpreting songs and playing good accompaniment. And when you play a solo, you then continue the narrative of a song so that’s what I really work from. I’m not really thinking beyond, I’m just reacting to what’s required".

JM: What sort of gear do you use for recording and live work?

RT: "I’ve got a ’64 Fender Strat and a kind of homemade (Ferrington) guitar that I used on most of the record. The Ferrington is a Fender-like guitar but which is really made out of bits. It’s got some strange pick-ups in it. It’s got a Gibson P-90, a Broadcaster pick-up and a Stratocaster pick-up; a real mixture of things. For acoustics, I have a few Lowden guitars that I really like and that I used on the record too. They all have a Sunrise pick-up in the soundhole; which is a magnetic pick-up and also an old internal mic and a little condensor mic as well too so I can mix the two signals. Amp wise I’ve got an old Fender Deluxe from the 1960’s a ’56 Tweed Deluxe and a Fender Vibroverb. For effects, I use various Line 6’s, a Jim Dunlop Univibe and a little Amp Tremolo".

JM: How do you feel about the enormous influence your work with Fairport Convention has had on countless British guitarists?

RT: "I’m quite proud of Fairport and to have been a part of it. And I think what we did was quite a revolutionary thing. It was very influential in a lot of different countries and certainly in different European countries, as it had a great effect on other revivalists. It made it a possibility that there was this way that you can take your traditional music of where you come from and turn it into something contemporary, like you make it into rock and roll. And that you can actually make it into something relevant, so I’m very proud of that".

JM: Do you think your faith (Thompson is a long time devoted follower of Islam) pervades a lot of your music?

RT: "I think whatever you believe in, whatever it is, even if you believe in nothing, I mean that’s still a proper belief and that pervades what you do and certainly in whatever you create. I don’t think you can really have music that’s devoid of some kind of morality. Even if your morality is to bite heads off chickens or something, it’s still something that you believe and in a subtle way you want to get that across to people. I think it’s at the back of what you do".

Visit www.richardthompson-music.com for more information

By Joe Matera