It's 38 years since Richard Thompson recorded his first album with Fairport Convention.

In that time he has retained a certain air of mystery, while keeping his credibility and devoted fanbase intact. He has also done much for the black beret.

Last year, the folk master - Teddy Thompson's dad - released Front Parlour Ballads, his first solo acoustic album in 25 years, which had his fans drooling with anticipation.

No doubt they will be looking forward to hearing these original tracks live for the first time but, as Richard is well known for his radical covers (from Gilbert and Sullivan to Britney Spears' Oops, I Did It Again), a few surprises could be coming their way.

"Because my crowd knows me and what I do, they expect me to push a little bit," he says. "They expect me to not sit back and play the ones they already know. They expect to hear new songs, they expect me to be experimenting."

Richard is one of our most revered folk exports, respected as much for his guitar work as his wildly varied songs. He is frequently compared to Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

He founded folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention as a teenager in the Sixties and left in 1971. He has worked almost constantly since (apart from a spell in a commune in 1976, where Teddy was born), gaining most fame as a duo with his ex-wife Linda, with whom he recorded six albums before they divorced in 1982.

Thompson has always mixed humour with a bleak sense of tragedy and anger and, although it was recorded in LA, songs from his latest album are undoubtedly English.

There can't be many songwriters in California writing about cycling tours of north Wales. His songs are ballads of real life - although it's a reality that's exaggerated in the name of art.

"People are not really interested in the story of a soccer dad, necessarily, unless it's the story of a soccer dad who can't take any more and shoots his family. People want to hear about the extremes of human nature. They want things that are larger than their own lives and more romantic. People want to hear stories that are a bit more of an escape.

"To write about my own life seems mundane. To twist the stories of your own life or to write fiction without any real intention other than to entertain yourself seems far more interesting."

Starts 7.30pm, tickets cost £17.50 and £20. Call 01273 684501.