Lucinda Williams

A towering figure in alternative country, Lucinda Williams maintained a prolific and much-admired career as a singer/songwriter. Born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, she was the daughter of poet and literature professor Miller Williams; as a child she lived in numerous Southern cities where he was a visiting professor. After attending the University of Arkansas she moved to Austin, TX where she began to perform regularly. Her first two albums (in 1978 and 1980) were done for the Smithsonian Folkways label, Ramblin' was all cover tunes and the follow-up Happy Woman Blues was original songs. Both were acoustic blues rather than country and neither made much of an impression; many fans believed that Williams' third self-titled album was her debut. That third album came about after a move to Los Angeles (and a brief marriage to Greg Sowders, drummer for the Long Ryders). It was here that Williams' rough-edged country/rock sound, her distinctive drawling voice, and her flair for lyrics both poetic and personal, fully emerged. (It also honored her blues roots by closing with a Howlin' Wolf song.) Critics and other musicians were among the first to take notice; Tom Petty was a fan and covered the album's hardest rocker "Changed the Locks." More notably, Mary Chapin Carpenter recorded "Passionate Kisses" which became a Top Five country hit (and her highest-charting pop single at #57)-technically the only hit single of Williams' career. The next two albums, 1992's Sweet Old World and 1998's Car Wheels on a Gravel Road both took years to make, involving a few false starts and giving Williams a somewhat difficult reputation. The final version of Car Wheels was drawn from three sets of sessions and released years after she'd begun performing the songs live. Most fans found it worth the wait; and numerous tracks-including the title song, a childhood flashback; and "Drunken Angel," about a late ex-lover--- became standards in her repertoire. Notably Williams never had to agonize so much over an album again; and since averaged an album every two years. Essence (2001) dealt equally with sensual and spiritual matters, and produced another signature song in "Get Right With God" (a Grammy winner as Best Female Rock Performance). West (2009) dealt in part with her mother's death; the following year's Little Honey celebrated a new relationship with her most rocking album (including a highly uncharacteristic AC/DC cover). She then released two consecutive double albums, Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone (2014) and the Ghosts of Highway 20 (2016), both steeped in themes of reflection and mortality. She also guested with a large roster of artists, including Elvis Costello and Steve Earle. In August 2017 she announced a new release, an entirely re-recorded (and partially rewritten) version of Sweet Old World.