Richard Thompson on coming back to center, songs that live in the margins, and catching the horse.

Richard Thompson was a teenager when he co-founded the influential British folk-rock band Fairport Convention. In the six decades since, he wrote “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” (one of Timemagazine's greatest songs ever written), was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, and landed among Rolling Stone’s 100 greatest guitarists. Yet when we asked what holds a working life together, his answers were small and practical: creative mornings before noon, a pile for every song that doesn’t fit, and an imaginary horse he starts catching at ten o’clock on show day. It’s a warm, wry conversation about sobriety since 23, the practice he keeps coming back to, and why “all the good songs are written in the margin.”

In This Episode:

• Richard Thompson
• Fairport Convention
• Brill Building
• Rodgers and Hart
• Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
• George Harrison
• The Action
• Thich Nhat Hanh - Peace in Every Step
• Tom Petty documentary
• John Betjeman
• Ep 27 - Mary Gauthier

Go Deeper:

• Watch: View this entire conversation on YouTube.
• Explore: Find similar conversations in these themed playlists.
• Connect: Join the conversation on Instagram.

The Hosts:

The Other 22 Hours is hosted by Aaron Shafer-Haiss (Producer/Mixer) and Michaela Anne (Songwriter/Creative Coach).

• More about Aaron’s work.
• More about Michaela Anne’s work.

Credits: 

Produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Original music written, performed and produced by Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Part of the Bluegrass Situation Podcast Network.