Richard Thompson has been musically active for more than 40 years. He began his career as a guitarist in Fairport Convention in the late 1960s before recording, in partnership with his ex-wife Linda, for ten years.

He then went solo and has released 20 full albums. The latest, entitled Dream Attic, was released in August this year and consists of 13 tracks, all recorded on a tour of West Coast America in February 2010.

Speaking ahead of his 2011 tour, which takes in a date at Oxford’s New Theatre, Thompson tells The Oxford Times he decided to record the whole album live after people continually told him that he never seemed to capture the energy of his live shows in the studio.

But why do the whole thing live? And why not just record it in one night?

“Insanity really. It would have been more expensive to record in the studio and I really wanted to short-circuit the process.

“But I don’t think I realised how hard it would be.

“The new songs were a lot for my musicians to learn and it would have obviously been a lot more relaxed in the studio.

“It was good to hear the songs grow though and a lot of material is taken from later on in the tour, when we’re a bit more practised.”

So was he never tempted to tinker with any of tracks in the studio?

“Oh we did a bit of tinkering, not much, but a bit. We added the odd bass note here and there. We didn’t fix anything that wasn’t missing.”

The last time Thompson toured, he presented a tour called ‘1,000 years of Popular Music’ which, quite literally, took punters from medieval to modern pop.

Given that this must have been a very learned process, was his decision to produce such a raw sounding album a reaction to this?

“No, I wouldn’t say it was a reaction to that. Certainly not a conscious one. I think each project has its own merits and its own reasons behind it.”

So what can fans expect from the tour?

“I’m not actually sure yet. There’ll be plenty from the new album and other things I’ve done over the years.”

One of the highlights of Thompson’s career came only last year, when he was given the task of curating the Meltdown Festival in London, an honour which has been given to Morrissey and Jarvis Cocker in the past and next year will be taken on by Ray Davies.

Did he enjoy doing it?

“Oh it was fantastic. I’d actually turned it down in the past because I thought I couldn’t do it, it’d just be too much work. But I was persuaded and it was so much fun. We had some sublime performances.”

So what’s he up to after the tour?

“I’m actually going to be taking part in a cruise (the Cayamo Cruise), it’s kind of a musical cruise liner with me and Loudon Wainwright III and loads of other older folkies. Then I’m off to Japan and I’m sure playing for the rest of the year.”

Richard Thompson headlines the New Theatre on Sunday, January 30. Visit newtheatreoxford.org.uk