Richard Thompson
In a world seemingly full of incredible guitarists, Richard Thompson is still a man many of them look at and listen to in awe. It's not just the quality of the playing, it's the way he seems to breathe life into it to make it almost seem like a living thing.
He understands space, he can fit into any size venue as both part of a band and solo and make it feel the right size, he doesn't overwhelm where he's playing and he doesn't let the venue overwhelm him.
Naturally he's played Cambridge before and always raised the roof, expect this one to be quite tight and have to make room for others to get into, because everyone knows that this will be something special, the great thing is, no one knows what it is they will be getting.
Thompson has an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of folk music, be it traditional, contemporary or rock and is pretty much able to draw on most of it, few artists have been able to tour with a thousand years of music, Thompson has.
He's a man very difficult to sell short, it's been said that trees will chop themselves down for the chance to be a part of Richard Thompson's guitar. There's many can believe it.
Photocredit: Neil King