Richard Thompson - Electric

The British folk singer-songwriter/guitar god Richard Thompson cut 16 tracks for his latest record, Electric – out February 5th on New West Records – in a speedy, spontaneous four days at producer Buddy Miller's home studio in Nashville. "I thought it would be good to have [the album] sound fairly garage, if you like – slightly trashed out. I think it is, in a good way," Thompson tells Rolling Stone. Electric proves a logical next step from Thompson's Grammy-nominated 2010 effort, Dream Attic, a record of then-new material that was cut live on the road. The singer says that's due to the rapid-fire, in-the-moment informal approach to recording at Miller's house and the producer's relaxed style. "It was a very organic process, a very unselfconscious process, and I think that's a kind of halfway house between the last record and a real recording studio," he says. He adds of Miller, "He's very non-egotistical. He likes to make everybody comfortable; he likes to fill in whatever role is required in the studio. Taking advantage of Nashville's resources, Thompson and Miller tapped Music City mainstays like Alison Krauss and fiddler extraordinaire Stuart Duncan to appear on Electric. Style: Rock