Folk/Roots

Always the critics' favourite and never the huge commercial entity he should rightly be, Richard Thompson (left) initially forged his considerable talent as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter with 1960s folk-rock group, Fairport Convention. From the early 1970s, he has been recognised as a major creative force with his incisive and descriptive song-writing. Never one to fall into a creative blind alley, along the way he has collaborated with a wide array of songwriters, including John Martyn, Sandy Denny, Elvis Costello and David Byrne. His more left-of-field collaborators include Pere Ubu and The Golden Palaminos. Unusually for someone of his age, 50, he refuses to either rest on his laurels or underachieve. He plays Dublin's HQ on Monday and Tuesday. In a word? Unmissable.