It seems appropriate the day after Father's Day to talk about Teddy Thompson. That's because when he first arrived on the scene a half-dozen years ago everybody called him guitarist Richard Thompson's son.
Of course, his genealogy isn't in doubt. Thompson is the son of folk rock legends Richard and Linda Thompson. But with two discs and an EP out, Teddy Thompson has blazed his own trail; forged his own sound built on more than just folk and rootsy pop, although both those elements are present.
But his parents feature on his records and vice versa, so although he might be tired of talking about his parents -- "I'm sick of this question," he says candidly -- he's not working at distancing himself from them.
And that approach has worked. He has been able to perform and record with them and still earn the respect of fans and critics for his own distinctive voice and songwriting skills.
Thompson's self-titled debut disc arrived in 2000 on Virgin Records and fans had to wait until this year for the follow-up, "Separate Ways," released by Verve Forecast, which also has a new LP from Old 97s frontman Rhett Miller.
In between the two was last year's "Blunderbuss" and an appearance on the "Brokeback Mountain" soundtrack.
We recently asked Thompson about his music, his collaborators and growing up in a musical family.
OMC: When I pop the disc into my computer, iTunes lists "Separate Ways" as a folk record, but the first sounds we hear suggest we're in for electronica pop. Then comes the rootsy rock of "I Should Get Up." Does your surname make it hard for you to avoid being pigeonholed as a folk artist despite the variety of sounds?
TT: It's listed as folk??!! I didn't know that. How silly. Oh well. These labels have such broad meaning now, I suppose it doesn't matter. If I could, I'd put it under hip-hop. They sell more.
OMC: When sequencing the disc did you make a conscious effort to put the least "folky" tune at the top? To maybe challenge that incorrect perception of your music?
TT: Not consciously. It just seemed like such a good opener. All through the recording I knew I was going to start with that.
OMC: The record is pretty diverse. Are your listening tastes equally catholic?
TT: Yes. I was lucky to be raised by parents with good and diverse taste. My mum took me to see "Turandot" at Covent Garden when I was 10 and listened Leonard Cohen and Prince and Hungarian nose flute music at home!
OMC: Growing up in a musical family, did it seem natural to write and play?
TT: It was natural for me but I didn't grow up in a household where music was played much at all. We listened to good stuff but we didn't stand around the piano at Christmas.
OMC: Why was there such a long wait for the second album after the first one? Was it a musical, personal or contractual issue?
TT: A bit of all three. I was left without a record label and my first record had just been released so I didn't have new songs ready to go. I was expecting to tour that record for a while.
I also moved across country from L.A. to N.Y. so things were in a state of flux. And then I was very conscious of wanting to make a record of strong songs. I was willing to wait until I loved every song. No filler.
OMC: How did you go about assembling the star-studded cast on "Separate Ways"? Were they all friends or did you pursue a few of the people?
TT: The only person I pursued was Garth Hudson (of The Band), but I had met him and was able to call up and try to get him down. It was an effort but he's brilliant.
OMC: Once the touring is done for this one will you head back into the studio right away so your fans don't have to wait so long again?
TT: Yes.
OMC: Will you use the same cast or try something a little different next time?
TT: I'm not sure. I've only just begun to think about it and write some new stuff. My ideas change daily. Right now I'm thinking sort of country-ish with string quartet.
Teddy Thompson plays at The Pabst Theater on Friday, June 23 at 8 p.m. with Mason Jennings. Thompson's Web site is teddythompson.com. He also plays a free acoustic set at Atomic Records, 1813 E. Locust St., at 4:30 p.m. on the day of the gig.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
