Lucinda Williams
 

I just had to post about Lucinda, whom I've only gotten to know over the last 4 or 5 months. She's one of those artists that I always heard about, but never listened to for some reason. Several months ago, they announced that she would be playing an outdoor event at a location about 4 or 5 blocks from my house, so I bought tickets almost out of curiosity.

Well, I decided I needed to listen to some of her stuff before I saw her just to familiarize myself with it. Enter Tidal and I was blown away. Awesome, awesome song writing and just a totally hot band behind her. Then, I discovered that she had been at this since the late 80s and early 90s and had a big portfolio of music - all of which I have found to be wonderful. Needless to say, I've been binge listening to Lucinda since I first started this exploration.

First, I bought all of her CDs I could find (still prefer CDs ripped via Silenzio to Tidal) and listened to those. They were totally addictive - so much content in such spare and literal lyrics. It reminded me of when my daughter started reading Harry Potter books and we all binged on those for several months (after they were all written). Then, I bought the ClearAudio Innovation and re-discovered vinyl, so I thought - well, let's try an AB with Lucinda on vinyl and via the Silenzio/PSAudio/Roon. The Innovation was the winner there, but that's for another post.

The foundation of it all is her strong songcraft. I think, almost like Dylan, you could read some of this stuff off the page and enjoy it. I have to admit that part of the attraction is that so much of the imagery is southern in nature (which won't appeal to many on this forum). For those of us that know what it's like to drive from Jackson to Slidell, it can be quite compelling stuff. Her dad was poet laureate of Louisiana (insert jokes here) and she shows those literary chops in nearly every song.

Then, her bands are just always wonderful. Quite spare - Lucinda on rhythm guitar, bass, simple drum set and a hot hot hot guitar player. While that may be limiting in the mind of some, it's liberating in a way. No artifice, nowhere to hide - just give me the good stuff. No back up singers, etc. There are those that criticize her for a lack of range in her voice, which is true, but it just works for me. She's not going to be on the floor at the Met any time soon, but she can do southern heartbreak and love and lust about as good as anybody.

Then, the day came for the concert that set all of this in motion. It was perfect outside - about 70 degrees. The concert was part of a festival to benefit the homeless and underprivileged - which gave everything a good vibe. Everyone in the audience seemed to be a harder core Lucinda fan than me. My wife, who has only listened to this stuff from upstairs over the last few months, tolerated my excitement and came with me. It only took a few songs for her to mention that Lucinda was "awesome" and that she "should have had more faith" in my selection. She did "car wheels on a gravel road" as the second song and did lots of my other favorite tunes, including Joy and Change the Locks (also done by Tom Petty). She's posted the set list for several shows around ours on twitter, but didn't post ours.

Did I say that her guitar player was great. Stuart Mathis, sometimes of the Wallflowers, absolutely brought down the house. I'm always impressed at the way the guitar players in her band fill in around the vocals perfectly, but he took the opportunity to absolutely rock the house into pandemonium. I was so impressed with the range of textures that he could bring - there wasn't another guitarist, so he was doing everything from the screaming solos, to the heavily distorted stuff, to just filling in around the vocals. Just an amazing artist, whom I felt lucky to have heard.

Yes, the sound was even good. Even though it was outdoors, it actually sounded pretty good. Some of the warm up acts weren't as noteworthy and I was worried about the sound, but she absolutely brought it home. She closed with a ZZ Top tune and Rockin the Free World of all things, but it was just perfect. And, it was 70 degrees and a quiet short walk back to the house (where I listened to more Lucinda).

So, now, I'm listening to the 18 minute version of Faith and Grace on the album of the same name (which I can't find on Tidal or on CD) and trying not to turn it up too loud for the family. Just awesome stuff. If you get the opportunity and are interested at all in great lyrics, a super funky blend of country, rock, blues and ZZ Top, give it a listen.

Highly recommended.

Great story! I am a big Lucinda Williams fan. I have all her CDs and most of her vinyl. Faith & Grace is from her latest album The Ghosts of Highway 20. There might be a CD single of The Ghosts of Highway 20 but I haven't seen it. My only criticism would be how well some of her stuff is recorded. But she is a great song writer. I love this type of insurgent country.

Have you heard of Amanda Shires? She is also one of my favorites. Another great southern songwriter. My favorite albums of hers are West Cross Timbers and Carrying Lightning.

You gotta find the vinyl version of faith and grace. 18 minute version of faith and grace on one side ("voodoo mix"), then the "fear monger mix" of fearlessness on the other side" along with a "space and dub" mix of faith and grace. Kinda like Lucinda gone disco or something. 12 inch, blue vinyl, released by highway 20 in 2016on record store day. Very cool.

I love Amanda shires.

Long time Lucinda fan here too, since Car Wheels in 98. She is amazing. Seen her live many times including D.C, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Dallas, and San Fran. Love her. You're right ...... she does love, lust, and heartbreak like no one else. A treasure in my book. Briefly met her after the gig in Dallas, very humble and cool!

Thanks for the excellent review. I'm also a Lucinda fan. I've been spending some time with "Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone" lately, a wonderful album. I have yet to be able to see her live, it sounds like a great show.

My favorite Lucinda song is the heart-breaking "Lake Charles," about the death of her first husband. I've spent a lot of time in that part of Louisiana and the song is so evocative of the area.

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Have you heard of Amanda Shires? She is also one of my favorites. Another great southern songwriter. My favorite albums of hers are West Cross Timbers and Carrying Lightning.[/QUOTE]

I've downloaded two Amanda albums in my offline Tidal content and will listen to them on the train over the next couple of days. Thanks for the reminder.

I'm having to force myself to stop the Lucinda binge.

I've been following her since I saw her perform "Over Time" on TV some years ago. The video is on YouTube. My wife and I have also seen her in concert in NY. Recording quality can vary but just the other night I played two of my wife's favorites off the West album, "Are You Alright?" and "I'm Learning How to Live" and I'd forgotten just how good they sounded. She has a unique voice and is a talented songwriter. Ironic that "Passionate Kisses" is probably her most widely recognized song and that is the result of the grammy winning cover version by Mary Chapin Carpenter.

West is my favorite album.

Ghosts of Highway 20 is absolutely superb.
She continues to amaze me with quality material.

Another plug for Shires as well. Her latest is superb + her husband is reasonably talented as well. :yes:

Reasonably?? Hope that was a sarcastic reasonably. The dude is one of the best signer/songwriters alive today.