TEDDY THOMPSON

Teddy Thompson's acclaimed recent release Upfront & Down Low offers distinctive readings of beloved country classics and equally impressive lesser-known songs. The album also features a lone Thompson original, "Down Low," whose heart-on-sleeve lyrics take on added resonance in this context. "As strange as it may seem, country music was the music I was brought up on," says Thompson, whose parents are British folk-rock legends Richard and Linda Thompson. "It's the music that's closest to my heart and the music that speaks to me the most, and it's always been a big influence on my own songwriting."

Born in 1976 in the London commune where his parents resided, Thompson "didn't listen to any music made after 1959 until I was about 16," and formed his first band in his early teens. After finishing school at 18, he moved to Los Angeles, where he began to pursue a musical career in earnest. His original tunes and live gigs generated sufficient buzz to win him a deal with Virgin Records. By the time he released his self-titled solo debut in 2000, he'd already played in his father's touring band and contributed guitar and backing vocals to his albums You? Me? Us? and Mock Tudor. In 2002, Teddy played a key role in drawing his mother out of a 17-year musical retirement to record her landmark comeback disc Fashionably Late, which he co-produced and played on; he also led her live band when Linda toured to support the album. Teddy also found time to record a self-released six-song EP, Blunderbuss, and to tour as part of Rosanne Cash's band, before signing with Verve and releasing the well-received Separate Ways in early 2006.

www.teddythompson.com