Richard Thompson to record new album on West Coast swing

Singer/songwriter Richard Thompson has lined up a run of West Coast dates to record live performances for the folk-rock veteran's next album of original material.

The six-city outing kicks off Feb. 11 in Los Angeles, and sports a two-night stretch (2/16-17) in Portland, OR, as well as a three-night engagement (2/23-25) in San Francisco. Details are included at right.

According to Thompson's website--and as previously reported on SoundSpike's Backline--the shows will be recorded for a "live album of all new songs." In addition to the new material, Thompson will play a second set of old favorites at each tour stop. Thompson's band for the trek features Michael Jerome (drums), Taras Prodaniuk (bass), Pete Zorn (multi-instruments, background vocals) and Joel Zifkin (violin).

Any resulting new album would follow up on Thompson's most recent studio set, 2007's politically pointed "Sweet Warrior," which featured the contemporary war protest song "Dad's Gonna Kill Me." The 2007 album followed two self-funded Thompson releases: 2003's "The Old Kit Bag" and 2005's "Front Parlour Ballads."

The Grammy-nominated performer's career stretches back to the late '60s, when he co-founded British folk-rock band Fairport Convention. In the '70s, Thompson recorded several albums with his then-wife, Linda Peters, including "Shoot Out the Lights," which regularly makes critics' lists of the Top 10 records of all time.