MY PROG HERO
JAMES WALBOURNE
Inspiring the wider music world…
Richard Thompson’s quality songwriting and stellar musicianship opened a whole new world for The Pretenders and His Lordship guitarist.
Hope you like the new me: Richard Thompson’s guitar playing has left a profound mark on James Walbourne (inset).
PRESS/DAVID KAPTEIN
PRESS/ NADIA MARQUARD
“He’s my father-in-law, but that’s by the by. His was one of those names that always kept cropping up and I never thought his music would be my bag at all when I was growing up. I got into it when I started hanging out with him. And when I saw him play for the first time, it blew my fucking mind! You know when you listen to Robert Johnson records and you can’t work out what he’s doing? I got that straight away with Richard, especially on acoustic guitar, because it’s so hard to master. He can make it sound as if three people are playing the guitar at once. It’s very impressive but it’s very musical at the same time. It’s an amazing thing to watch, but you can find the essence of Richard Thompson on both acoustic and electric guitar.