Little-known guitar legend Richard Thompson returns to rock Missoula

Tom Webster recalls the night the bright lights of Missoula were shot out. It was spring of 1993, downtown at the Elks Club.

A man armed only with an acoustic guitar and no backing band broke a string during his performance.

Instead of halting the set completely to thread and tune the new string, he asked the audience to sing the Beatles’ version of the Isley Brothers’ tune “Twist and Shout.”

He had them singing in three-part harmonies through the verse and refrain, all the while fixing and tuning his guitar. With his six-string, he silenced the audience, paused, and picked up exactly where he left off prior to the equipment malfunction.

“It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” Webster said, referring to the performer as “the greatest musician you’ve never heard of.”

For the last 40 years, British guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson has basked in this celebrated obscurity.  Yet for those who’ve caught his subtlety in their periphery, like those who attended the 1993 Elks Club show, Thompson’s greatness is profoundly apparent.

Next Tuesday, March 18, Thompson returns to Missoula in support of his newest release, Sweet Warrior, taking his solo act to the stage of the University Theatre for “An Evening with the Legendary Richard Thompson.”

For Thompson, coming to Montana offers a chance to play for an audience different from others found in the United States.

“There’s an appreciation of nature or beauty and a certain kind of self-sufficiency or something about people,” Thompson said. “It seems a place a part for me.”

Webster, the concert organizer and a long-time fan of Thompson, has arranged several other Thompson concerts in Missoula in the past. The most notable of these was in conjunction with the Performing Arts Series of 1997, after completion of the University Theatre renovation.

This time around, Webster said he expects the same high showmanship Thompson has displayed in past performances.

“He’s very engaging,” Webster said.

He said about 600 people are expected to attend the performance. Those in attendance are in for a great show, he said.

“He’s a musician’s musician,” Webster said.

Born in Notting Hill Gate, London, England, Thompson joined the electrified-folk band Fairport Convention at age 18. Thompson’s sophisticated guitar work caught the eye of American producer Joe Boyd, who signed the band to his label. After experiencing a marginal amount of success, Thompson split from the group to pursue a solo career.

In 1972, he married folk singer Linda Peters and formed the musical duo of Richard and Linda Thompson. Their 1974 debut, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, received praise by critics and fans alike. The two recorded and toured throughout the 1970s, but their greatest success came in 1982 with the release of the intensely provocative Shoot Out the Lights, an album hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top ten records of the decade. The success of Shoot Out was bittersweet for the two, because the album was recorded during a tumultuous time in Richard and Linda’s personal relationship. They officially separated in 1983.

With the disbanding of the duo, Richard embarked again on his solo career, releasing 13 albums of new material. He also collaborated with the likes of Paul McCartney, Robert Plant and Bonnie Raitt, among others.

Despite his already colorful music career, Thompson continues to actively challenge himself as both a songwriter and guitar player.

“I think you have to consider yourself in the realm of experimentation and exploration,” Thompson said. “You can’t be satisfied with what you’ve done.”

Thompson also believes that every day is a new opportunity for exploration, to find new things and “push the envelope of what a song can be, and what music can be.”

Thompson’s 2006 release, Sweet Warrior – an album he says is centered around the theme of confrontation and the resolution of political, social and personal conflict – offers a sometimes-grim outlook on the world. This becomes especially apparent in the anti-war diddy “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me.” Despite his strong opinions on issues like the Iraq War, Thompson prefers to manifest his beliefs in a covert way through his work. Thompson, a devout Sufi Muslim, said he’d rather the music be heard for what it is, rather than riddle it with his own personal beliefs.

“I’ve always hated people beating me over the head with their beliefs, philosophies or morals, and I’m very reluctant to do it to anybody else,” he said.

In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked him number 19 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Players of All Time — an honor that comes as no surprise for those familiar with his work.

“People respect him for his musicianship, and I respect him for his low-key career and the fact that he does what he wants to do and to heck with it,” Webster said.

Thompson’s unique style serves as a synthesis of blues, jazz and Scottish folk, with a banjo-esque finger picking technique that utilizes each string to its maximum potential.

Tickets are on sale now and available at all Griztix outlets, http://www.griztix.com, or at 1.888.MONTANA. Prices range from $28 for advance purchase and $30 at the door. The show starts at 8 p.m. All seating is reserved.