Imagine the notion of one extended musical family with enough splendid music to keep you charmed, touched and thrilled for the rest of your life. Sounds intriguing, right?
In my recent column on musical artist bio-docs, I noted how Willie Nelson’s family has a plethora of worthy talents across two generations. One of them, his daughter Amy, performs in the wittily-dubbed duo Folk Uke with Cathy Guthrie, daughter of Arlo Guthrie, ergo granddaughter of American folk music icon Woody Guthrie. Those connections create one awesomely talented extended near-family.
Another of the same that I wish to tout quite affirmatively here takes us across the pond to the British Isles. Then back over the Atlantic to Canada and home to the United States.
The musical event that got me pondering this particular familial connection is the gloriously welcome release of an album that I never expected to exist: the latest by Linda Thompson, ex-wife and former musical partner of Richard Thompson, parents of two exceptionally talented apples from their tree, Teddy and Kamila aka Kami Thompson. Titled Proxy Music, with its cover lifted from a Roxy Music LP in cheeky homage, the album solves the challenge of her inability to sing anymore due to a vocal disorder, spasmodic dysphonia.
“I had a voice clear and true,” sings daughter Kami of her mother’s pipes, and with a similarly exquisite voice, to open the album. Linda wrote or co-wrote all 11 songs, which all measure up to the gold-standard of British folk-rock she and Richard set over six sublime albums between 1974 and ‘82. Son Teddy Thompson, a fine artist himself, produced the set, collaborated with Linda on some of the songs, and sings a track. Richard plays, sings harmony and co-wrote a number. Kami sings another under the musical monicker The Rails, shared with her husband James Walbourne, who also collaborated on two songs.
The disc is an emotionally and sonically warm as well a magnificent labor of love, a family affair without even a hit of a bad nepotism note. All mentioned above create music of consistent excellence as superb and captivating as most any I’ve heard in my life. The Thompson family DNA is powerful stuff indeed.
Then there’s brother and sister Rufus and Martha Wainwright each singing a song, and opening another family vector out from Proxy Music. They are the offspring of folk-rock humorist Loudon Wainwright III from his marriage to Kate McGarrigle, who with her sister Anna was a Canadian folk-rock duo of a comparable caliber during a parallel era as Richard and Linda.
I stifle using the term “incestuous” here, as it is, like nepotism mentioned earlier, off the mark. But yes, the abundant family talents do highly intertwine into an extended musical clan who can fill a long shelf with eminently listenable records. And on Linda’s album, the cairns on the trail lead to yet another family on the closing track.
Titled “Those Damn Roches” – the expletive meant quite affectionately – it invokes the wonderful progressive (and, yes again) folk-rock trio of sisters that emerged from New York City’s “new folk” boom of the late ’70s, One of whom, Terre, was also married to Loudon Wainwright III. What goes around does circle back around with these folks.
Sung by Teddy, it declares, “I love them all, bonded together in blood and song.” I couldn’t agree more. The number celebrates the connections among everyone, and Linda’s album acts as a guidepost to a treasure trove of talent you’re likely to love too.
Album: Ship to Shore by Richard Thompson – An ideal time to mention his latest release in 2024. His wry compositions, evocative howl of a voice and gloriously radiant guitar work never fail to satisfy.
Album: My Love of Country by Teddy Thompson – I’ve been meaning since it came out in 2023 to plug this note-perfect homage to the mid-1960s Nashville countrypolitan sound that plays today like a dream.
Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email robpatterson054@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, February 1, 2025
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