PHOTOS BY TERRY JACOBY
Defining what a person is not can be subjective, but Lucinda Williams is clearly an American treasure whose creative and emotional songwriting redefined Americana/country music and whose rootsy voice put the perfect touch of grain and soul into stories of hard work, heartbreak, challenges, pain and success.
Trying to define Williams’ style of music also is subjective.
“The music business didn’t know what to do with me,” Williams told the crowd at Michigan Theatre last week. “I have been in every category there is in the record stores. Sometimes country. Sometimes rock. They didn’t know what to call me.”
If one must need a label, how about a little country, a little rock, a little blues, a little folk – but ALL original.
And her show at The Michigan Theatre on Tuesday was very original, very special and very Lucinda Williams. A multi-Grammy winner across many nominations, Williams suffered a stroke in 2020 and no longer plays guitar on stage. Her show now is more of a history lesson and personal journey than a concert – no one was jumping off amps or doing drum solos.
Williams writes about unique characters, telling their stories like only she can and her show in Ann Arbor focused on her most special character of all – herself. It was a deep dive not only into her career but what helped make her so special, so unique. And her voice is still her voice – it could have been 1998 if you closed your eyes and listened to her sing the amazing “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.”
Many of the songs were introduced with stories – like you were sitting around a campfire instead of in a theater seat. And the crowd was clearly enjoying the tales of her youth, growing up, challenges of the record business and finally making it in a very competitive business. Williams stressed that music is a business and someone (usually not the artist) needs to make money.
With Doug Pettibone on acoustic guitar, Williams opened with a beautiful verson of Blind Pearly Brown, whose bottleneck style of slide guitar inspired Georgia rock and roll musicians. One of the highlights for me was the band’s version of Bob Dylan’s It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry and a cover of Hank Williams’ Jambalaya.
She also played many of her own songs, including Crescent City (off her debut album), Car Wheels, Lake Charles, Rock n Roll Heart, Fruits of My Labor and Drunken Angel.
It was a beautiful, meaningful and important evening for any music fan – no matter how subjective you can be or what label you want to put on her music.
