Oldies that go way back

Talk about roots music.British guitarist and vocalist Richard Thompson reached back into the deeper recesses of musical history for material to perform in his current tour, “1,000 Years of Popular Music” — back into the 13th century, for starters.

The tour derives from a 2003 live CD of the same name, which has its origins in a magazine editor’s request from musicians for a Top 10 list of songs from the previous millennium. Mr. Thompson says he believed the magazine was looking for music only from the 20th century, but vowed to call their bluff and issue a true 1,000-year list.

Although his submission was never published, the list evolved into an excuse for a live performance at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and later shows in New York, Chicago and London. Now Mr. Thompson has taken the show on a 15-state tour, which stops at the Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria Monday and Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.. Ticket information is available at www.birchmere .com or www.ticketmaster .com.

Appearing with Mr. Thompson are vocalist Judith Owen and percussionist/vocalist Debra Dobkin.

“I should stress that we’re not experts in performing this kind of music,” says Mr. Thompson, 55. “I think the point of this is that the songs are the stars and we are just amateurs having a go at it.”

“At the moment we’re having fun with a few new songs,” he says, including a “rather obscure Kinks song and a three-part madrigal that is tricky, and rewarding if we can make it to the end.” The title of the madrigal, which dates from 1670, is “Silver Swan,” and the songwriter is Orlando Gibbons.

Not exactly a household name. But neither is Richard Thompson, who at 17 was a founding member of the British folk-rock band Fairport Convention. National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition says he “might be the quintessential cult artist” who possesses the “throaty voice of a modern troubadour.”

In addition to titles with Fairport Convention, Mr. Thompson issued a half-dozen critically acclaimed records with his former wife, Linda Thompson, in the 1970s. He has pursued a solo career since then, recording some 25 different projects since 1980.

“1,000 Years of Popular Music” includes the oldest known round in the English language, “Sumer is Icumen In,”, first written down by John Farnsette, a monk at Reading Abbey in the mid-13th century. Mr. Thompson says you can still view his manuscript in the British Museum.

“For the early stuff, I had to do a bit of research,” Mr. Thompson says.

As for the criteria for making his list, Mr. Thompson says, “I suppose it has to have something about it that still appeals.”

“There are things that have been almost left behind as fashions change,” he says.

Some of the songs deserve revival. Consider “So Ben Mi Can Bon Tempo,” a song in archaic Italian. Mr. Thompson says, “It has a really catchy tune. It’s a hit in any era. If I had my way, it would be a hit now.”

Composed by Orazio Vecchi, a cathedral musician from Modena who lived from 1550-1605, the song illustrates — albeit in a colloquial language — how much in music remains the same over 500 years. The song’s lyrics refer to an apparent romantic dalliance: “I know a lucky fellow, but I can’t say who it is.”

But Mr. Thompson says he doesn’t dwell long in the distant past for fear it would “put the audience to sleep.” He rotates some 42 songs around on the tour’s playlist for the two-hour performance.

The 20th century is heavily represented in the list for many reasons, he says. For one, there was a proliferation of musical styles because of advances in recording technology. So Mr. Thompson places the midpoint of his millennium of music at 1880. Later entries to his songlist include Victorian era English music hall songs, as well as songs written by Stephen Foster, Hoagy Carmichael, Sanford Clark, Pete Townshend, Prince and John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

The more modern music “is closer to home, it is something the audience can relate to and appreciate.”

The pop songs and traditional songs didn’t take so much research. “Blackleg Miner” comes from the Durham coalfields. “Shenandoah” is a sea chantey. “I might have sung it in school, believe it or not,” he says.

“I suppose for me,” Mr. Thompson says, “it’s a nice change to do something that is not my own music. And I suppose for the audience, it’s an interestingly different kind of show.”

“I’m quite broadened to find out all this stuff,” he says. “I think you have to know the background in order to play the foreground.”