Richard Thompson’s been making albums, in varying configurations, for 45 years. The impressive part: He’s never really made a truly bad album. Sure, his music has settled into a comfortable holding pattern for the last 10 years or so. But on his newest disc, Electric (New West), the British folk-rock vet is in lean, fighting form. Buddy Miller’s production dispenses with frills or fanciness. The focus stays on Thompson’s barbed songs, his virtuosic guitar flights and his interplay with the rhythm section. Songs like “Sally B” and “Good Things Happen to Bad People” shine in this setting. Currently, Thompson is touring with the same rhythm section that backs him on the CD — bassist Taras Prodaniuk and drummer Michael Jerome. So you can expect an evening of similar thrills, in service of some great songs from the last 45 years.
Tue., March 26, 8 p.m., $45-$75, with Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, academyofmusic.org.
