Richard Thompson returns to the Academy of Music on Jan 22 with a new album in hand

His first Pioneer Valley date since October 2024 comes three months after Hippies, Thugs and Heroes, his 20th studio album.

The last time Richard Thompson played Northampton, in October 2024, he was touring *Ship to Shore*. When he comes back to the Academy of Music on Friday, Jan 22, 2027, he'll have a whole new set of characters to introduce. The show starts at 7:30 p.m., tickets are $59.50, and Clayton Linthicum opens.

The new record is *Hippies, Thugs and Heroes*, Thompson's 20th studio album, released Oct. 16 on New West Records, as Paste and Hot Press reported. He produced its 12 songs with James Frazee and recorded them in Weehawken, New Jersey, according to JamBase. The lead single, "Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking," is a London street-hustler tale whose cast includes a carousel queen, a Shakespeare-quoting soldier and a hippie from the King's Road, as Stereogum describes it.

Critics have been generous. PopMatters gave it a 9 out of 10 and called it one of the best albums of his career. Spin points to brass and accordion in the arrangements, a mostly live-in-the-studio sound, and a range that runs from folk ballads to the Louisiana-tinged "Everybody's Stealing."

A record full of characters, played to a room that will want to meet them.

That's what's new since 2024: a full record of portraits, some drawn from life and some invented, which the Northampton crowd hasn't heard live yet. The ticket listing bills it as a Richard Thompson Band show, so expect the full electric treatment rather than a solo acoustic night.

The opener has history with Thompson. Linthicum is half of the duo Kacy & Clayton, which opened Thompson's dates last time around, including a Bay Area run covered by CBS News. Here he plays his own set.

The Academy, with 804 seats, is a good size for this: big enough for a full band, small enough that a story-song carries to the back row. A January Friday in Northampton is a quiet night by downtown standards, and this is a good way to spend it.

Tickets are on sale through Tixr. Thompson has played the Valley twice in a little over two years, which is a lot for a touring veteran, but don't count on a third.

Give the new album a few spins before you go, so the hustlers, soldiers and hippies are familiar when he brings them out on stage.

Sources: Richard Thompson announces new album Hippies, Thugs and Heroes — Paste (pastemagazine.com); Richard Thompson announces 20th solo album Hippies, Thugs and Heroes — Hot Press (hotpress.com); Richard Thompson Preps New Album 'Hippies, Thugs And Heroes' — JamBase (jambase.com); Richard Thompson announces new album, hear 'Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking' — Stereogum (stereogum.com); Richard Thompson: Hippies, Thugs and Heroes — PopMatters (popmatters.com); Richard Thompson sees a darkness on 20th solo studio album — Spin (spinmagazine.com); British folk-rock icon Richard Thompson brings tour to the Bay Area — CBS News (cbsnews.com); Richard Thompson: Ship to Shore electric full band tour with Kacy & Clayton — Belly Up (bellyup.com); Richard Thompson Band tickets — Tixr (tixr.com)