Sir Richard Bishop is a strange man, and nobody understands him but his guitar.

Photo by Mark Sullo

Tomorrow at the Crocodile, he supports his lovely new album "The Freak of Araby," an instrumental jaunt through mostly Egyptian song styles. Listening to it is like being inside an espionage-heavy strip of "The Adventures of Tintin," or watching "Rick Steves: Stranded in the Forgotten East."

It's a trip.

From "Araby," here's "Essaouria":

Click To Play

More about his new album, and also what Sir Richard's like in concert after the jump.

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What hits first when witnessing Sir Richard play guitar is his reckless skill. On acoustic guitar, he shreds strings and beats wood, lunging and pulsing, and on electric, his raga-range soloing goes full peacock, outing itself as a studied, practiced gift. The man's fingers fly, and though he abuses his instruments and can seem bent on creating a general ruckus, he'll break off into truly jaw-dropping asides. He was born to play guitar.

World music aficionados might sort through the African, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Gypsy influences on "Araby," but most people hear Bishop's music - whether solo (as Sir Richard) or with his brother Alan in famed indie group Sun City Girls - as simply reeking of faraway spices.

He doesn't just express what's in his head and heart; Sir Richard's on a world tour and has been since the '80s, and when he makes new music, takes you where he's been.

Concert details here.