Listen to Richard Thompson and Loudon Wainwright III’s appearance on World Cafe

You can listen to the full interview and the duo’s live performance via NPR Music.

Richard Thompson and Loudon Wainwright III have each assembled remarkable careers, full of top-notch albums and influential music that spans at least 40 years. In the five decades that Thompson has been making music, he’s earned some of the highest possible praise for his work as a live performer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. Wainwright, for his part, has recorded more than 20 albums, and is celebrated on an aptly titled new box set called 40 Odd Years.

Last year, Thompson released Dream Attic, while Wainwright put out 10 Songs for the New Depression, on which he reworks songs from the Depression era. Here, the two folk-rock legends describe how they began performing with one another for the Loud and Rich Tour. They also play songs together as part of the 2011 Cayamo Cruise.