From Fairport Convention to his musical partnership with then-wife Linda and on to solo albums that still trouble the UK charts, Richard Thompson is an undisputed icon of British folk music – and ahead of his latest release, entitled Hippies, Thugs and Heroes, he's joining us to answer your questions.

Now 77, Thompson's career began in his teens when he formed Fairport Convention and struck out into writing new material rather than covers and folk standards: in so doing, albums such as 1969's Liege and Lief became part of the British folk canon themselves.

A "gut decision" prompted him to go solo, though he soon formed a duo with his wife, Linda, who he had married in 1972, putting out albums such as I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight and Pour Down Like Silver. Thompson converted to Islam, specifically Sufism, and spent time away from music before returning in the late 1970s and, after splitting with Linda, based himself in the US with his new partner.

Drawing from global cultures and the fringes of rock music as well as various folk forms backed by astoundingly accomplished guitar playing has meant that Thompson has created a radically cosmopolitan body of work. He's collaborated with everyone from Werner Herzog to David Byrne and Harry Shearer, and even attempted to synthesise an entire millennium of music in his show 1000 Years of Popular Music (encompassing Sumer is Icumen In to Oops! I Did It Again).

He's now recorded his 20th solo studio album, Hippies, Thugs and Heroes, full of picaresque characters and storytelling, in instinctive songs recorded often in just a couple of takes.

Ahead of its release on 16 October, he'll answer your questions on the new album and anything else in his career. Post them in the comments below before 10am BST on Monday 12 October, and we'll publish his answers in the following Friday's edition of the Film & Music section, as well as online.