Your Country's Right Here: Lucinda Williams' New Music Shines Bright

posted in: Artist Features • Music News

Lucinda Williams was already a multi-GRAMMY Award-winning singer songwriter in 2009 when she married music industry insider Tom Overby on stage at her Minneapolis concert prior to her .

But finding the man she calls “my best friend, my soul mate,” actually bumped her artistry up even more levels. You’ll hear that on her GRAMMY Award- nominated album Blessed and perhaps even more so in her live performances, especially when she performs songs she has just written and will soon record. At a recent sold-out show at the Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C., Williams did the near impossible. She and her musical partner for the evening, virtuoso guitarist Doug Pettibone, performed a two-hour show before a packed room that had the intimacy of a house concert.

“Thanks everybody for coming out,” said the always cool Williams, dressed in a dark blouse and worn-just-enough jeans. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here and it’s great to be back.”

The reason for Williams’ absence, as proven by two sold out shows in the venue often touted as one of the best in the country, wasn’t due to lack of fan interest. Williams has been on a long tour behind her album Blessed, that features guest artists Elvis Costello and Matthew Sweet and spawned video and other projects. But her myriad performances and projects through the years – both as a headliner and accompanying such A-list artists as Bob Dylan”clearly hasn’t dulled her performance enthusiasm.

Opening with “Lakes Charles,” Williams was joined by Pettibone, who shifted from guitar to pedal steel as he joined Williams on vocals, for “World Without Tears.” But no matter the song or accompaniment during the two-plus hour show, Williams’ appreciation for the music never seemed to waver. Indeed, her comfort and passion for her newly written songs, such as “Bittersweet,” seemed just as heady as for classics such as the GRAMMY Award-winning “Passionate Kisses.”

If anything rivaled her passion for the songs, it was her gratitude toward other artists including Mary Chapin Carpenter, who recorded “Passionate Kisses,” and championed it in such a way that it won two 1994 GRAMMY Awards”Best Country Vocal Performance for Carpenter and Best Country Song for Williams.

“I feel attached to the songs emotionally. I always am to all my songs and if I’m not I set them aside for a while,” she said in an interview outside the concert. Some songs I wrote in my 20s. Some stand the test of time more than others. Like “Change the Locks’ I do all the time and I put a whole new spirit into it.”

Suffice to say such spirited artistry will likely be even stronger with the release of her next album, which she said she will soon begin to record.

Find out more about Lucinda Williams and her music on her official website.