Lucinda Williams NewsWilliams shows why she's a treasure
By Dan Nailen / The Salt Lake Tribune (9/16/05)
Not many performers actually make sense when they say a song has "music inspired by ZZ Top, and lyrics inspired by Flannery O'Connor," but that's the breadth of experience and curiosity that makes Lucinda Williams one of America's true treasures. "Atonement," the song Williams referred to as a mix of Texas' bearded boogie-band and the Georgia-raised author of Wise Blood, came at the close of an often-stunning performance by Williams and her three-man band, guitarist Doug Pettibone, bassist Taras Prodaniuk and drummer Jim Christie.
A native of southern Louisiana who began performing publicly in New Orleans in the early '70s, Williams deferred any mention of the hurricane-induced wreckage of her native stomping grounds until the encore. Kingsbury Hall's pristine acoustics inspired Williams and Co. to create the show on the fly. "Y'all have made us so comfortable that we're going to do a couple of new songs," Williams said early on, after gently boiling performances of "Reason to Cry," "Over Time" and "Those Three Days." "They weren't in the set list, but the set list needed to be changed."
Breaking out untested material is risky for any artist, but the move took the show to new heights. Williams discussed her inspiration for the new songs, and the band clearly loved playing them. "How to Live" was a mid-tempo rocker, while "Well, Well, Well" came on as a mix of Southern gospel and Appalachian mountain music. "Jailhouse Tears" recalled the hard-boiled honky-tonk country of Waylon Jennings. "Knowing" was a gorgeous ballad Williams said was a nod to the style of Sam Cooke and the Muscle Shoals soul sound. Among the older songs, "Still I Long for Your Kiss" absolutely killed, as did a raucous take of "Change the Locks" and the yearning "Essence." Before the encore that launched with "Crescent City," Williams talked about her mother, a New Orleans native, and her death a year ago.
"I can't begin to tell you how much my heart is breaking with what's going on in Louisiana," Williams said. "I haven't even begun to be able to deal with he loss of my mother, and now I'm dealing with the loss of the city my mother grew up in."
Songs Sung Blue Sunday Herald (Scotland) 7/17/05
She came from Louisiana, found her way to Texas, and wound up in LA, but for Lucinda Williams, home is where the next gig is. The 52-year-old country genius has spent 34 years on the road … and always writes her best songs when she’s heartbroken. “Like a drink?” Lucinda Williams rummages around in the cluttered kitchen and emerges with two large coffee mugs and a bottle of very good red wine. “Sorry”, she says, “no glasses. As you can see, I’m getting ready to move.”
.......Although Nashville had claimed her as its own when Car Wheels won the Grammy, it still preferred its women to be either cartoon tough gals or tragediennes. Not someone with as much attitude as a punk rocker, who would write about female sexuality with such skill that Time magazine would describe her as America’s greatest songwriter. In Nashville, her friend Rosie Flores, the honky-tonk singer told her: “You can’t really rage”. “She’s right”, Williams shakes her head. “You can’t.” complete article
Opera House, Boston, MA 7/12/05 - Boston Globe review
For blues-tinged chanteuse Lucinda Williams, even a two-week love affair can yield a new song. Or five. (By Chris Smith) - It’s cheap and easy to label Lucinda Williams as the woman of constant sorrow. From her cult hit “Passionate Kisses” through her 1998 masterpiece, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, to this year’s double CD, Live @ the Fillmore, Williams’s music captures so many fractionate emotions—longing, lust, anger, and yes, even humor—that the seductive 52-year-old is more properly described as a biographer of the heart. Chris Smith spoke to Williams, who plays the Beacon Theater on July 14, about meeting Dylan, the trouble with New York journalists, and heartbreak of several stripes. complete article...
Lucinda Williams, Musician, 49, Nashville interviewed by Brendan Vaughan (Esquire, February 2002)
The perfect man? A poet on a motorcycle. You know, the kind who lives on the edge, the free spirit. But he's also gotta have the soul of a poet and a brilliant mind. So, you know, good luck. complete interview
NPR concert at 9:30 Club in Washington, DC
Hell on Wheels -The Guardian 5/17/03
Encore From a Utopia by Robert Christgau for the Village Voice, 6/12/01
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