Still will be available in several configurations including a twelve-track CD, a twelve-track double 180-gram vinyl album and a deluxe CD package that includes a five-song EP from a previously un-released session, all available from B&T.
Still was recorded in a two-story rehearsal loft in Chicago over the course of just nine days with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy at the helm, backed by several longtime players from both Thompson’s and Tweedy’s bands. "Richard's been one of my favorite guitar players for a very long time,” said Tweedy. "When I think about it, he's also one of my favorite songwriters and favorite singers. He's the Ultimate Triple Threat. Getting to work closely with him on this record was a truly rewarding experience, not to mention a great thrill. And he keeps alive my streak of working exclusively with artists who make me look good as a producer."
Thompson enlisted Tweedy’s production skills in an effort to shake up his own creative approach to making records. "It turned out be really good idea,” says Thompson. "Jeff is musically very sympathetic. Although some of his contributions are probably rather subtle to the listener’s ear, they were really interesting and his suggestions were always very pertinent.”
"I really tried to not have any preconceived ideas,” Thompson says of working with Tweedy, "but of course you do. I tried to shove those to the back of my mind. You don’t really know until you turn up — what the studio is like, what the gear is like. It ended up being a nice unfolding of surprises.”
The key to Still’s emotional resonance is a set of gripping new Thompson compositions rich with his signature mix of trenchant insight, gallows humor, and keen empathy for characters at the brink of being overcome by their emotions, their pasts, or themselves.
A recipient of BBC’s Lifetime Achievement Award and Mojo’s Les Paul Award, Richard Thompson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen of England’s 2011 New Year Honours List. The Americana Music Association also recently honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting. Robert Plant, REM, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt and many other artists have recorded Thompson’s songs.
Taken as a whole, Still is a powerful dispatch from an acknowledged master who remains unafraid to put himself into demanding new environments – its title reflecting that resilience and seemingly endless resourcefulness. "Or,” Thompson adds slyly, "it could be read as ‘Is he still performing? I thought he died years ago.”
Still - TRACK LISTING:
- She Never Could Resist a Winding Road
- Beatnik Walking
- Patty Don’t You Put Me Down
- Broken Doll
- All Buttoned Up
- Josephine
- Long John Silver
- Pony in the Stable
- Where’s Your Heart
- No Peace No End
- Dungeons for Eyes
- Guitar Heroes
*Solo Acoustic
APRIL
28 – Met Café – Pawtucket, RI *
30 – The Colonial Theatre – Bethlehem, NH*
MAY
01 – Freight House – White River Juntion, VT*
02 – Stone Mountain Arts Center – Brownfield, ME*
JUNE
09 – The Pabst Theater – Milwaukee, WI
10 – Vic Theatre – Chicago, IL
12 – Three Rivers Arts Festival – Pittsburgh, PA
13 – City Winery – Nashville, TN
14 – The Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA
16 – The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
17 - The Birchmere – Alexandria, VA
18 – The Keswick, Glenside PA
20 – The Wilbur Theatre – Boston, MA
21 – Flynn Center – Burlington, VT
24 – Prescott Park Arts Festival – Portsmouth, NH
26 – Town Hall Theatre – New York, NY
27 – Solid Sound Music & Arts Festival – North Adams, MA
JULY
10 – Bearsville Theater – Bearsville, NY
12 – RBS Royal Bank Bluesfest – Ottawa, ON
17 – Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Folk Festival
19 – Grass Valley, CA – WorldFest
25 – Calgary, AB – Calgary Folk Festival
AUGUST
02 – Dublin Irish Fest – Dublin, OH*
08 – Edmonton, AB Folk Festival
15 – Folks Festival at Planet Bluegrass – Lyons
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