Lucinda Williams’ music can be described in a lot of ways, but I like to think of it as Southern Gothic. The roots rock, trad country and blues that are her most dominant influences are all, of course, heavily associated with the American South. But anybody can play 12-bar blue or honky-tonk music; some of the best practitioners of blues rock learned to play without ever having set feets down on American soil. It takes more than that, though, to really depict the purest soul of a place, and Williams’ Deep South upbringing is infused into every line of her writing. She always sounds like she’s sweating in the summer heat. More than that, what she depicts is the deep heartbreak and small joys of small lives hemmed in by hopelessness and boredom, broken by poverty and addiction, haunted by history, shaped by fire-and-brimstone religious fervor, redeemed by reckless romanticism and cultural vitality.
| Essence by Lucinda Williams | |
|---|---|
| Released | June 5, 2001 |
| Genre | Americana, alternative country |
| Length | 50:58 |
| Label | Lost Highway |
| Producer | Bo Ramsey Tom Tucker Lucinda Williams |
Lady Garfunkel's Song of the Day 