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Lucinda Williams sold out back-to-back nights at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse, offering a more personal interaction as she shared insights between songs about growing up, her musical influences, important people in her life and the background of many of her songs, which she also released in more detail in her autobiography last year. Adding to the experience through the evening was a background display of family photos and videos as well as other videos showcasing the times and places.
That Williams had a stroke over 3 years ago affecting the left side of her body is not the elephant in the room, but it brought a poignancy to each moment during the evening.
The show began with her explanation of how the evening would proceed, accompanied on the first two songs only by long-time guitarist Doug Pettibone on acoustic guitar. “Blind Pearly Brown” was based on a street preacher and singer her dad took her to see when she was 5 years old in Macon, GA. This launched her interest in Delta Blues. Elizabeth Cotton’s “Freight Train” followed.
She went into detail on trying to establish herself in Austin, TX, including being bumped from a week of performances at a club because “We have plenty of chick singers” and later someone else commenting “You’re pretty good for a chick.”
Most artists would be thrilled to have three consecutive standout albums – fans could argue it goes farther than that – but her 1988 self-titled album, 1992’s Sweet Old World, and 1998’s Car Wheels in a Gravel Road are high water marks that set her up for critical claim, financial success and artistic freedom. Williams has a knack for capturing sentiment, insights, questions, barbed pointers, deeply felt emotions, honesty and life in general in a way that invites the listener in. Her voice can be tough or fragile, and it’s always nuanced (a lot of one-syllable words require two), gravelly, vulnerable and honest.
While her stage presence is more limited – she’s still trying to relearn to play the guitar – her voice remains magnificent. Since her stroke, she’s released six albums of covers (to support artists challenged financially with the pandemic), an autobiography and an album of new material. Williams probably has lived a different life than most to know so many people intimately who have had severe struggles, but a common thread in her lyrics and her life account is that she’s a positive person and looks for the best in people, even those who made mistakes. She’s lived through a lot, and her response, and presence, seems recovering from this setback is just another obstacle. As great as the concert was, I’d have to imagine that many others were thinking along the same lines as we journeyed with her.
She was supported by an excellent band – Pettibone, Mark Ford (guitar), David Sutton (bass) and Butch Norton (drums). Her stories took some time, and they patiently smiled and waited. Throughout the concert, the 1,100 or so treated the space as a listening room, seated and absorbing the music, helped by sterling sound in the venue. Given that, it was no surprise that Pettibone couldn’t help but grin as a foursome of young ladies were determined to dance to any of the songs they could. Those would be the “stand up” songs rather than the “sit down” songs as Lucinda self-addressed her preference for how she’s prefer to perform them.
Latter day highlights included “Heaven Blues” about her mother, “Dust” which was based on a poem written by her father, and “Where the Song Can Find Me” which is about life experience finding its way in inspiration. The finale, “Joy,” from Car Wheels, received the extended rock and roll treatment from the band and was a great way to send people home from the evening.
Lastly, for any who were wondering what the heralded Louisiana Boudin might be, it’s organ meat made of pork scraps, liver, and often blood, cooked with rice and stuffed in a casing. As Lucinda says it should only be spread on a Saltine, I guess it’s a dip or spreadable as well.
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One Response
Thank you for the thoughtful review and great photos. We were there on the first night, her 71st birthday. Beautiful, emotive songwriting delivered in a raw, honest voice. That’s what makes her one of the greats. That she can do this, night after night, town after town, is a testament to her strength and will. I noticed her empty left hand sort of trying to form guitar chords and it nearly broke my heart. A beautiful, memorable night.