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Richard Thompson And Loudon Wainwright III On World Cafe

Richard Thompson and Loudon Wainwright III recently performed a session together for <em>World Cafe</em>.
Courtesy of the artist
Richard Thompson and Loudon Wainwright III recently performed a session together for World Cafe.

Richard Thompson and Loudon Wainwright III have each assembled remarkable careers, full of top-notch albums and influential music that spans at least 40 years. In the five decades that Thompson has been making music, he's earned some of the highest possible praise for his work as a live performer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. Wainwright, for his part, has recorded more than 20 albums, and is celebrated on an aptly titled new box set called 40 Odd Years.

An L.A.-based artist via West London, Thompson started his musical career when he was 18 after forming Fairport Convention. As Fairpoint Convention evolved, so did Thompson's guitar playing and songwriting, and after four years with the band, he released a 1972 solo album called Henry the Human Fly. Thompson has since released more than 40 albums, marked by his intricate guitar work and dramatically unfolding stories about everything from family to war.

Last year, Thompson released Dream Attic, while Wainwright put out 10 Songs for the New Depression, on which he reworks songs from the Depression era. Here, the two folk-rock legends describe how they began performing with one another for the Loud and Rich Tour. They also play songs together as part of the 2011 Cayamo Cruise.

This World Cafe performance originally aired April 26.

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