Richard Thompson

"I've always had a problem, growing up in London around a British folk tradition but also listening to rock and roll and not finding anyone who was playing the music I really wanted to hear. Really, what I want to hear didn't exist, so it was necessary for me to go out and create it," he explains.

He has been described as Britain's greatest living singer songwriter, was recently the subject of a BBC documentary and has 25 solo albums to his credit spanning the past two decades.

Originally a member of the Fairport Convention which he co-founded at the tender age of 17, he was responsible for many of their best songs. Among his peers Richard has always been highly respected. John Mellencamp said of him, "Richard Thompson could say more in one line than I could in a whole song."

His last tour went down a storm and guitar fans will not be disappointed. Material from his latest album The Old Kit Bag will get an outing this time. Thompson admits the album, written over the past two years, is without a theme, it's more of a jumble of gems.

He can explain the title though, "It's a reference to the old First World War song, 'Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag', which is about smiling and whistling a happy tune as the Germans rain shells down on you." The recording was kept pretty minimalist and true to what your likely to hear on stage from Richard and his band - Danny Thompson (bass) and Michael Jerome (drums). "The idea was to keep it small. I did a few overdubs - second guitar, dulcimer, single-finger keyboard parts, all the easy stuff - but other than that, everything was pretty much a live performance."

American singer-songwriter Kim Richey is the support. Her latest CD Rise has drawn comparison to kd lang and Joni Mitchell and her songs, penned for others, have received Grammy nominations.

March 13,The Anvil, Basingstoke. Performance: 7.30pm Tickets: £15 Box office: 01256 844244.