Lucinda Williams opens up about her fight to recover and new album ‘Stories From A Rock’n’Roll Heart’

Lucinda Williams likes to tell the truth. “She’s not sugarcoated,” is how she puts it.

Things have been tough lately for one of America’s greatest singer-songwriters, but she’s faced her situation with remarkable fortitude.

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“I just keep walking and trudging,” she told me.

In 2019, a tornado hit and blew half of the roof off. Nashville She shares her home with her life and music partner, Tom Overby.

It was devastating, but I accept it Lucindafor her is not as bad as people who have lost entire homes.

Shortly thereafter, COVID pandemic It has pushed people with this obsessive communicative ability into the difficult world of isolation.

“Prisoner in these four walls,” she sings on one of her new songs.

Then, in November 2020, she fell ill. stroke In the bathroom as she prepares to take a shower.

1 week later intensive care After spending several weeks in a rehab center, she returned home but was unable to play her beloved guitar and had to walk with a cane.

But Lucinda doesn’t have a “poor me”, she has a “ru” to her friends.

She has experienced setbacks in her career spanning over 40 years. It really took off in 1998 with the release of her classic album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.

The 70-year-old in January is now doing everything in her power to recover as fully as possible.

She’s been playing live again since 2021, and today releases her challenging and intuitive new album, Stories From A Rock N Roll Heart.

As the title suggests, the emphasis is firmly on rock, and it’s a perfect example of why this genre-agnostic artist utterly despises the oft-used moniker of “alternative country queen.”

Southern roll

She once said, “I’m too rock to be country and too country to be rock.”

But if you judge her by the company she maintains, Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa provide backing vocals for the anthemic title track and frenetic New York comeback. Let’s just say yes.

Also note that Lucinda was born in January 1953, the same month that her namesake (but not related) Hank Williams died in the back seat of a light blue Cadillac convertible. Deserved.

Country’s first superstar had a lot in common with her, a maverick spirit with killer tunes and a fresh lyrical flair.

I am meeting Lucinda on a warm June day at a grand Victorian hotel in central London.

The effects of her stroke are still evident, but I watched her walk slowly but determinedly and unaided through the hotel lobby.

She wears a leather jacket and jeans, and her hair is the familiar shaggy blonde and cut with a shoulder-length mop.

We sit side by side on a giant cream sofa, but she looks to the bright side and quickly sets the mood.

“My voice has held up and maybe even gotten better,” she says softly, with a charming Southern tone.

“A lot of people have said that since my stroke.”

Lucinda said her new album developed “organically” into a rock record. “Usually we don’t think about themes beforehand, we just kind of see what fits naturally,” she says.

“Coincidentally, a lot of the songs, personal or otherwise, were about uphill battles and comebacks.”

With the hilarious cue “Let’s get the band back together,” the proceedings begin with a bang.

Lucinda said the song is about “getting back together with old friends” while also reflecting the collaborative nature of her latest music.

She enlisted her friend New York rocker Jesse Mullin to help, but Lucinda was happy to return the favor after producing her 2019 album Sunset Kids.

“Jesse flew to Nashville six times with the rock ‘n’ roll element,” she says.

“And to my great surprise and delight, my husband Tom turned out to be a very good lyricist and my road manager Travis Stephens also came up with some great ideas.”

So how did Springsteen end up singing on the record?

“I was sitting around the kitchen table with Tom and Jesse,” she replied, setting the scene.

“We were working on the song ‘Rock’n’Roll Heart’ and Tom springsteen A forever fan said, “Wouldn’t it be great to have Bruce sing on this?”

moving tribute

“Jessie, someone who knows everyone in this country.” new york cityraised his voice and said, “Then I think we can catch Bruce.”

“And sure enough, he went home, reached out to the right people, and Bruce and Patty said, ‘Yeah!'”

“Every time I hear Bruce’s voice on ‘Rock N Roll Heart’, I get excited. He has that iconic voice and it works well with mine.”

Another rock hero who influenced Lucinda’s life was the late Tom Petty, which explains why Stolen Moments serves as a lost Heartbreakers classic and moving tribute. I’m here.

“Tom’s death [in 2017] He invited me to the opening of his show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and it really affected me.

“Those were the last shows he did. And just as I was starting to get to know him better, he was gone. The whole thing was so heavy.”

Lucinda described Petty as “a very kind, friendly and down-to-earth person.”

“There’s a story I want to tell that explains a lot about him,” she says. “I used to support him in the 80’s when he was already a big star.

“When I went on stage, he found the audience restless and not paying much attention to me.

“So one night he went out with me and introduced me to him. He said, ‘Okay, listen, guys, I want you to hear the next artist. ‘Cause she’s really good.'” After the classic rock ‘n’ roll heartfelt tale, we return to Lucinda’s aptly titled album.

On the brooding “This Is Not My Town,” which deliberately uses a Doors-esque organ, she’s joined by her kindred spirit Margo Price, who is 30 years her junior but has an equally genre-defying aesthetic.

she says: “We’ve become good friends and email each other.

“Margo reminds me a little of me. She has a youthful energy and excitement about everything.”

The evocative “Hum’s Liquor”, mostly written by Tom Overby, refers to a Minneapolis spot where the late Bob Stinson of Hellraisers and The Replacements used to buy liquor.

Fittingly, Bob’s bandmate and surviving brother Tommy Stinson is featured on backing vocals.

Lucinda says: “Tom lived in Minneapolis. From his apartment, he could see Bob going to this liquor store at 3:10 every morning.

“The song isn’t critical. It’s more of an ode to Bob Stinson. It’s no secret that the Replacements were all heavy drinkers.”

bad choice

In her candid new memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You, Lucinda recounts her love affair with lead singer Paul Westerberg.

she said to me “Paul was so charming. I fell in love with his solo work. [check out 14 Songs] And she had the beauty of a boy.

“I’m a little embarrassed because there are so many different men’s stories in my book. I hope nobody gets mad at me.”

Another muse she mentions is Ryan Adamsa supremely talented singer whose career was derailed in 2019 by multiple women’s sexual harassment accusations.

Lucinda said his behavior was “disappointing”, but added, “I don’t want to abandon him.

“I was on the phone with him and he said, ‘Everybody thinks I’m a monster now.’ So I said, ‘Ryan, you’re not a monster.’ No, I just made the wrong choice.”

Back to Rock N Roll Heart and two songs with a country feel centered around steel guitars, Last Call For The Truth and Jukebox.

The first message seems to recognize that time is running out.

“Tom came up with most of the lyrics and I wrote the melody,” says Lucinda. “At first, I was worried it sounded too cynical.

“I’m an older woman. I’m proud of my age and don’t want to be negative about feeling older.

“But as I got to know the song more, I found a way to embrace it and interpret it in my own voice.”

Jukebox emphasizes isolation, suggesting that a little solace may come from continuing to listen to your favorite records.

Lucinda talks about the inspiration as follows. “We were staying in a hotel in New York that had a bar. It had a really nice jukebox. I think it would be fun to load it up.”

So what song did she like to play? “Depending on my mood, I love ‘At Last’ by Etta James and ‘Light My Fire’ by The Doors,” she decided.

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The final track on Rock N Roll Heart, Never Gonna Fade Away, contains a moving insight from Lucinda.

“I actually wrote, ‘I just want to disappear,’ when I was really moody and depressed,” she confesses. “I played it to Tom and he said, ‘No, I have to change it to Never Gonna Fade Away.'”

It’s clear from this reaction that Lucinda’s husband is encouraging her to keep fighting despite the setbacks.

In her book, she explains how her father, the celebrated poet, Miller Williams, literally died from Alzheimer’s in the last four years.

I asked him if he was on his mind when Never Gonna Fade Away was conceived.

“I never thought about it, but it’s a great observation,” Lucinda replies.

“Maybe I was thinking about him subconsciously. It’s such a terrible disease. There was a time when he was still alive but just physically there.”

Lucinda maintained a very close relationship with her father until his death on January 1, 2015. “We had a bond from an early age,” she says. “He had a great sense of humor and taught me a lot about the economics of his writing.

“He also said, ‘Never censor yourself.’ Don’t coat things superficially.”

That was helpful advice for Lucinda Williams and her heartfelt songs.

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Lucinda Williams

Stories from the Heart of Rock’n’Roll

★★★★☆