After a holiday break, Lucinda resumed touring on February 20 in Nevada.  The tour continued in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia & South Carolina.  Lucinda's mom, who was seriously ill in the hospital in Arkansas as the band prepared for a gig in Charlotte, NC on March 7, passed away that day.  The concert was cancelled and Lucinda went to Arkansas for the funeral.  We all send our sincere condolences & sympathy to Lucinda and her family at this sad time.

The remaining concerts in March in Nashville, Columbus, St. Louis & Kansas City were cancelled, but Lucinda still plans to tour in New Zealand & Australia in April.

I'd like to start this column with a wonderful article from the St. Petersburg, Florida Times, about a little girl and her grandmother who attended Lu's concert:

St. Petersburg Times - March 11, 2004

An Encore For Haley , by Dave Scheiber

For nearly two hours, the little girl cheered and waved from the front of the sprawling stage, her voice lost
amid the music.

The singer, rocking her fans at Jannus Landing, didn't notice the child in the glare of the spotlights.

She didn't see the kid-sized guitar with the sunburst pattern the girl held up. Or the note wedged between
strings in the guitar head that read: "Please sign my guitar. Haley."

"Luciiiiinda! Luciiiiinda!" shouted 4-year-old Haley Jones of St. Petersburg, perched by the stage with her
grandmother, Sandy Litton.

"Luciiiiinda!" echoed the grandmother, who had bought the guitar for $3.99 at a thrift store.

But Lucinda Williams just rolled on through her set, did a long encore - dedicating one song to her mother, who
was sick in the hospital - and disappeared from view. Show over.

Or so it seemed. Haley and her grandmother had no idea their night had just begun.

Williams' CD World Without Tears meant a lot to Litton, a grandma at 43, who shared the story with the St.
Petersburg Times last week. The album had helped her through a grueling year in which she watched her
marriage dissolve, lost her house in a fire, learned her mom had cancer, faced up to years of alcohol addiction
by joining Alcoholics Anonymous and played a major role in raising Haley after the girl's parents separated.

Haley - a talkative tot with large blue eyes, short brown hair and a big smile missing two upper front teeth - didn't
understand the depth or imagery of Williams' songs about loss, longing and love. But she'd heard them at home
and knew they always made her grandma feel good. That made Haley feel good.

For weeks the pair looked forward to going to the concert together. They arrived four hours early March 2,
among the first in line, to see the three-time Grammy winner.

Williams has attracted a devoted following as an evocative, straight-from-the-heart songwriter, dubbed
America's best by Time magazine after her Car Wheels on a Gravel Road six years ago. She's not the kind of
artist you'd find on the country charts - though Mary Chapin Carpenter made Williams' Passionate Kisses a Top
Five hit in 1994 - but critics, sophisticated listeners and musical peers love her.

So did the Jannus Landing crowd, showering Williams with a loud ovation as the concert ended. But by the foot
of the stage, unable to get the singer's attention, Haley cried, consoled by her grandmother. Then, one of
Williams' band members looked over while packing his gear. Other fans who'd stood near Haley began
shouting for him to take the guitar so Williams could sign it. Smiling, he took the guitar and left.

When he returned, the throng lingering by the stage cheered. The guitar bore Williams' signature in swirling
black-marker letters. Haley and her grandmother jumped up and down, screaming with excitement. But they
hardly had time to savor the moment.

A fan beside them, asking for a closer look at the guitar, accidentally smudged off the signature. What to do?

Another fan suggested to Litton that she take Haley to the street where Williams' tour bus was parked. Maybe
they could get a new autograph. Litton hurried with Haley to the bus, soon joined by a long line of Williams fans.

They waited for an hour. No Lucinda. Then the bus driver, who had been with Williams and her band in the
artists' lounge above Jannus Landing, came out and spoke to the group. Williams' mother was doing poorly, he
explained, and the singer was very upset. She might not be coming out to meet the fans.

The driver lingered for a while, and Litton caught his attention. She told him about Haley and the smudged
autograph. Haley chimed in, too. He went back inside the building, returning minutes later to say Williams
wanted to see them.

Litton's mind went blank, but she recalled the crowd cheering as they went inside. When they entered the room
upstairs, everybody in Williams' entourage greeted them warmly. Then Williams emerged from the bathroom.
Litton could tell she had been crying. They hugged. Then Williams went right to Haley and hugged her, too.

Litton quietly told Williams that Haley was dealing with some hurt over her mom, who had moved out after
splitting up with Haley's father. The singer seemed touched. She and Haley talked and talked.

"She's an old spirit," Litton remembered Williams saying of Haley.

Williams re-signed the guitar and said, "Haley, have you ever been on a tour bus?" Off they went to the bus.
Williams took time to sign autographs for the fans who were waiting. Then she and her manager climbed on
board, and the driver took them all for a ride around town.

They spent the next three hours with Williams, who showered them with gifts.

She gave Haley a stuffed toy puppy, soy treats and lifetime VIP passes for her and Litton to see Williams in
concert anywhere, any time. After 2 a.m., they were parked outside a downtown hotel. Haley was sleepy.
Williams' tour manager, Matthew Greeson, handed Litton $100 and put them in a cab back to their car, blocks
away, near Jannus Landing.

"Don't worry about your mother. She loves you," Litton remembered Williams saying to Haley.

"Don't worry about your mother," Haley said. "She loves you, too."

The little girl and her grandmother got into the cab and headed off into the night, feeling like they were already
dreaming.
 

Word came Tuesday that Williams' mother passed away in Arkansas. The tour was abruptly canceled as Williams rushed to be with her family. But Greeson, speaking to the Times, relayed a message: "Lucinda loved meeting Haley very much. There was a connection. Her direct words were, 'If Haley and her grandmother ever need anything, they should feel free to be in touch with us for the rest of their lives.' "

Now that you've read that heartwarming story, I'll bring you some reviews of Lucinda's concerts in February & March. First is a pre-gig article, then a review of the concert in Grand Junction, Colorado:

Grammy winner performs at Avalon
By Anna BEATy Kerr The Daily Sentinel – Grand Junction, Colorado, Feb.20, 2004

“I heard a rumor you’re making history...” 

The author of this verse from the song “Real Life Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings” will make history with her Grand Junction debut at Avalon Theatre. 

Three-time Grammy winner Lucinda Williams appears at the Avalon on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Doors open at 7 p.m., the show will start at 8. 

Williams is considered by many one of the best roots-rockers in America. She was listed as No. 40 in Spin magazine’s Top 40 of the Most Important Artists Making Music Right Now. She has been deemed the Southern Gothic queen because of her blues/country sound and dark, poetic lyrics. 

Her current tour showcases her newest album, “World Without Tears.” The album, released last April, has received favorable reviews from critics and fans alike. She was nominated for two Grammys at the 46th Grammy Awards this month. 

The album’s 13 tracks vary in tales of heartache and righteousness, with an effortless transition of musical genres and a harder-edged rock sound than her previous albums. 

Williams was born in Lake Charles, La., the daughter of poet Miller Williams and pianist Lucy Morgan. Williams attributes her unique style to her upbringing. 

“I can’t fathom being molded,” she told USA Today shortly after the release of “World Without Tears.” 

“I have been fanatical about not compromising to the point of paranoia, which is why I’m considered a pain to work with. I was raised to be passionate and this rebel spirit helped me survive.” 

As a teenager growing up in New Orleans, she was as kicked out of school after refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance to protest the Vietnam War. She was suspended again after demonstrating against conditions in her overcrowded high school. She was told she would be readmitted to school if she promised not to demonstrate anymore. She chose to drop out rather than keep quiet about her convictions. 

Williams briefly attended college before deciding to pursue a career in music. She developed a passion for song writing and toured the country as a folk singer. 

Her career starting gaining momentum when she moved to Los Angeles in 1984. She caught the ear of the Smithosnian/Folkways record label and recorded two albums. But Williams’ style became her own in her third and self-titled album with the Rough Trade label, released in 1988. 

Her song writing skills gained greater attention after county artists Patty Loveless and Mary Chapin-Carpenter recorded Williams’ “The Night’s Too Long” and “Passionate Kisses.” “Kisses” won Williams her first Grammy in 1992. 

She won her second Grammy in 1998 for her album “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.” Her success would continue with her 2001 release, “Essence,” which prompted Time magazine to declare Williams “America’s Best Songwriter.” The ninth track on the album, “Get Right With God,” won Williams her third Grammy. 

Williams’ lyrics are about themes people can relate to, such as love gone wrong or a fight for independence. 

“Everybody responds to most to the basic heartbreak song,” Williams told Entertainment Weekly about the content of “World Without Tears.” “I’ve been around long enough now, and I know some things.” 

The album is also intriguing perhaps because of its place of origin. The album is a live recording in a 1920s-era Los Angeles mansion that has served as the set of many horror movies. 

“Recording live just makes everything sounds a lot warmer and more buoyant. I like the contrast,” Williams told USA Today.

Gritty singer’s show benefits soup kitchen

By Anna Beaty Kerr The Daily Sentinel – Grand Junction, Colorado, Feb. 26, 2004

The entire audience held its breath with excitement as Lucinda Williams took the stage Wednesday night at the Avalon. 

“She’s great,” said Kelly Bowen of Palisade as she bounced her feet and shivered a little with anticipation as Williams walked out. 

Williams stepped up to the microphone with her guitar strung across her back with a black leather strap and her blond tresses topped with a matching black leather hat. She gave a nod and a wave to the approximate 900 people in the crowd and addressed them as if she were speaking to old friends. 

“Hey everybody,” she said with a sly smile. “It’s great to be here, especially for such a good cause. It’s really close to my heart.” 

The concert was also a benefit which raised $9,000 for the Catholic Outreach Soup Kitchen and the Avalon Restoration Fund. Soup kitchen volunteers helped with the concert, welcoming people as they came in and showing them to their seats. 

“It’s overly generous,” said Angela Walsh, director of the soup kitchen. “I wasn’t really a fan of Lucinda before, but I am now.” 

While the cause was commendable, most people in the audience came to the Avalon for Williams’ heart-wrenching music. 

“She’s like Bonnie Raitt but a little grittier,” said Dave Schlosser of Grand Junction. 

Williams’ angelic yet raspy voice captured the audience like a tractor beam. The music harmoniously bounced from the foot of the stage to the top of the balcony and everywhere in between. The power of Williams’ voice and the message of her lyrics are chilling, with graceful transitions between every note. 

“I love her music it makes you feel,” Schlosser said. “You can tell that she’s had pain in her life. She’s healing my pain tonight.” 

By the end of the evening it seemed that most of the audience was feeling no pain. As the concert drew to a close the harmonious feeling lingered throughout the theater. 

All of the buzz from people was favorable and some said they hope that Williams will return to Grand Junction again very soon.

Prior to her gig in Austin, this brief piece appeared in the Chronicle:

AUSTIN CHRONICLE – Feb. 27, 2004

LUCINDA WILLIAMS 

   RECOMMENDED (02/27/04 @ La Zona Rosa)
Now that Lucinda Williams has developed a rhythm with her album releases, the live shows boast an
ever-changing repertoire. That’s especially good for local audiences, because Williams loves to try
new and different songs in front of her Austin audience of old faithfuls and new
converts. Since the critical success (is there any other kind for her?) of World Without Tears, she’s
kept the tours constant. Now she’s returning to town with the esteemed Bottle Rockets opening.
Their rootsy rock and penchant for Doug Sahm suggest another mighty fine evening of music in the
capital of Texas. - Margaret Moser

Here is a pre-concert article  in the New Orleans paper:

GETTING IN SYNC

Roots rocker Lucinda Williams may be misunderstood, but she isn't going to change

Friday February 27, 2004, New Orleans Times-Picayune
By Keith Spera 
Music writer

Following a gig last weekend in Flagstaff, Ariz., Lucinda Williams was approached by a couple from Cowboys 4 Christ, an evangelical organization that works through rodeo events.

Williams, the acclaimed roots rock and country singer-songwriter, gave up long ago on winning fans among evangelical Christians, given the hedonistic pursuits chronicled in her songs. She even penned "Atonement," a harsh if somewhat impressionistic commentary on organized religion for her 2003 release "World Without Tears," as a reaction to years spent in the heart of the Tennessee Bible Belt.

She ended her Flagstaff show with "Atonement." But afterward, the Cowboys 4 Christ neither proselytized nor criticized.

"They're like, 'We just love you!,' " Williams recalled during a phone interview. "They're hugging me, they want their picture taken with me. They gave me bumper stickers that say 'Real cowgirls love Jesus.' They're all happy and bouncy, the sweetest people.

"I was so dumbfounded, I didn't know what to say. I'm being polite and everything, but I'm thinking, 'Did you hear the last song I did?' I thought I made it pretty obvious as I introduced the song and said, 'This is a song I wrote about fundamentalist religion and people trying to cram it down your throat.' "

Williams, a Lake Charles native who spent several years in New Orleans before embarking on a long ramble around the country, is accustomed to being misunderstood.

She toiled for much of her career in relative obscurity, writing songs that other artists covered -- Mary-Chapin Carpenter did Williams' "Passionate Kisses" and Tom Petty recorded "Changed the Locks." She amassed a small but devoted core of fans with her own, often poorly promoted and distributed albums. Armed with a burnished, world-weary soprano laden with longing and despair, she was a critic's darling whose material was too emotionally raw and attitude too headstrong for the Nashville hierarchy.

That all changed with Williams' 1998 album "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road." Released by Mercury Records after a protracted and at times difficult recording session, "Car Wheels" generated an avalanche of critical praise that finally overcame the mainstream market's resistance. The album, with its crisp production and tales of fallen heroes, went gold and won a Grammy, vindicating Williams' dogged pursuit of her own vision. She had finally arrived.

But following a breakthrough is tricky. Her next album, "Essence," was a more low-key effort. Lyrics were more abstract than the narrative story-songs of "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road." Reviews were not as unanimous in their praise.

"World Without Tears," her latest on Lost Highway Records, is a relatively loose, bare-bones affair. Recorded live in a Los Angeles mansion with producer Mark Howard, it mostly features Williams with the same three-piece band that is backing her on her current tour, which stops at the House of Blues on Sunday. Overdubs and studio polish were kept to an absolute minimum.

Once again, reviews have been mixed, inevitably comparing her latest work to "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road," now established as her career yardstick.

"Which really isn't fair, but it's one of those things that comes with the territory," Williams said. "You can't win for losing. 'Car Wheels' took me to the next level. Since 'Car Wheels,' I'm kind of known, so it's easier to take shots at me and be a little more critical.

"I feel a little wistful about the 'Car Wheels on a Gravel Road' days. That record garnered me so much critical acclaim and attention, and it won a Grammy. But that kind of thing can't last forever."

Williams is not interested in repeating herself just to satisfy others' expectations. She is, however, trying to be more in tune with audiences at concerts, something that has not always been a priority. Her highly anticipated set at the Fair Grounds during the 2001 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival got off on the wrong foot when she started 20 minutes late. Many in the sprawling crowd soon grew restless with a succession of low-key songs.

"That didn't really work that well," Williams said of her Jazzfest debut. "I think part of that was the mood I was in. There were some personal problems going on in the band. And this filmmaker wanted to drive around with me in New Orleans all day and film stuff, and I didn't really want to do it.

"Unfortunately, I have a tendency to bring my troubles with me onto the stage. I try not to, but it's hard sometimes to just switch off and go into that (performing) gear."

Williams specifically selected the hard-charging roots-country band the Bottle Rockets to open her current tour. And she's developed a blueprint for her set that touches on all types of songs, but also allows her to read and adjust to an audience's mood. If the feeling is right, she might break out a blues romp by Howlin' Wolf. Lately, she's honored requests for her rarely played "Lafayette" and "Lake Charles," two of many compositions that reference Louisiana towns.

Rest assured, though, that the primary voice Williams heeds is her own.

"People want me to be a certain way," she said. "I don't want to keep making the same record over and over again. I know what people liked about 'Car Wheels.' Who's to say I might not go back and do another record similar to that? Or I might do something a little more stripped down and rootsy-folkie."

Not that perceptions of her work will necessarily match her intentions. One review of "World Without Tears" criticized the songs as lacking redemption.

"I don't necessarily agree with that," Williams said. "I think all my songs have (redemption) in them, if you look closely enough.

"People have never known how to look at me or categorize me. They're always trying to figure me out. Just when they think they've got me figured out, here I come with this record of 'lack of redemption.'

"That's ridiculous . . . It's how you interpret it."

And interpreting Williams is rarely easy.

Lucinda Williams hits the House of Blues on Sunday.

Here is an interview with Lucinda prior to her appearance in Florida:

St. Petersburg Times - March 1, 2004

The Heart of Her Lyrics, by Brian Orloff

Lucinda Williams is a songwriter of great economy. Her rich, rootsy music often revolves around spare lyrics - mere thoughts and imagistic fragments - rather than strict narratives. Instead, Williams relies on her gritty, bourbon-soaked voice to convey the heartbreak, longing and barbed optimism her poetic lyrics sometimes veil.

But Williams, 51, could not be chattier and less guarded on the phone.

In a warm, 30-minute conversation from her new home in North Hollywood, Calif. - Williams and her boyfriend were unpacking boxes - she spoke about her evolution as a writer and the doubts that still plague her.

Time magazine dubbed Williams America's Best Songwriter after she released her universally heralded album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road in 1998. Williams comes to Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg on Tuesday to perform material from her latest album, World Without Tears, released last April. The raw album finds Williams still unafraid to take chances with her sound, pushing her music to more rocking extremes.

ST. PETERSBURG TIMES: You've talked about World Without Tears as incorporating heartbreak as part of living, the idea that you negotiate being simultaneously strong and vulnerable.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: I think everybody should do that. I think it's more interesting and more real. That's probably why people identify with the songs so much.

TIMES: On the album, you tackle some heady subjects. It seems like there's a move thematically to write about other things than your personal life.

WILLIAMS: I'm trying to branch out a little bit and try to find other subjects to write about besides unrequited love, which is the easiest thing to write about. I write from personal experience. Then the question becomes: Well, does that mean I'm going to have to not have a happy relationship? If I'm settled down and I'm with someone who I'm happy with, that means so much for my writing? It's all dried up and there's nothing to write about now? (Laughs)

I grew up around poets and novelists, and, I mean, it never stopped them. Those guys are married with kids. They just draw from different experiences in life. My dad would write poems about a wreck on the highway or a cat sleeping in the window. I'm trying to utilize that experience of seeing that kind of writing. The difference is, they're songs and not poems, so people aren't used to seeing that.

TIMES: You've said before that you employ your father (poet Miller Williams) as a critic and editor. Do you still send him your songs?

WILLIAMS: Yeah, I do. It's always been kind of an apprenticeship relationship as far as the writing thing goes. When I was first learning to write, I would show it to him earlier. But as I grew and got better and more secure in my writing, I'd go ahead and finish the song and then show him, and he'd sometimes make suggestions about a line or two here and there. But as the years went on, he had to make fewer suggestions, just like any kind of learning process.

As I got more secure, also, I wouldn't always necessarily take his advice. I learned to maybe use some of his suggestions. So, this last bunch of songs I sent it to him, he didn't feel that he had any changes to make about anything.

TIMES: I wanted to ask about the different type of singing you do on this album, especially on songs like American Dream and Sweet Side. You seem to do some more rhythmic work and spoken word.

WILLIAMS: If I feel like I have to keep everything in a box, if I feel like I have to do things a certain way all the time, that's going to (bother) me.

A lot of my songs on Car Wheels are like that. When I started working on the next batch of songs, for (2001's) Essence record, I thought: "It took me years to get those songs completed." They're really involved, complicated songs. Songs like Lake Charles and Drunken Angel (on Car Wheels), I spent years working on those songs. Those kinds of songs aren't easy to write for me.

It started really with the Essence record, where I kind of opened myself up to a different structure of writing. I was just trying to look at not limiting myself so much and just letting the music kind of be part of the song more.

So I just continued with that same attitude on this last record. I'm kind of a late bloomer because I spent years approaching things that way. I came out of that whole contemporary folk area, like Bob Dylan's early songs that were really laden with all kinds of poetic imagery and metaphors.

I'm sure (Dylan) felt kind of trapped by that a little bit, too. That's what he was defined by. I feel like, "Give the guy a break. He's already painted his masterpiece, so to speak. Lighten up a little bit." (Laughs)

TIMES: You were talking about your shift in the songwriting process. It seems like people talk about how prolific you've been in the last few years. Are you working always?

WILLIAMS: Well, no. I just kind of work on what's called a J- curve, where you just kind of go along and don't really come up with anything, and then all of a sudden you have a swoop of creative output. That's been my pattern, for the most part.

I used to worry about it because I'd go for months without writing anything, and then at some point it (would) come. Part of the reason I've been more prolific lately is that I took away that feeling that every song had to be like Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. That's the irony of it all. Everybody criticized me because that album took so long in the making, but part of it was because I had more time to work on those songs. And unfortunately for me, you can't always have it both ways.

Here's the review of her St. Pete concert:

St. Petersburg Times - March 3, 2004

Lucinda Williams Rocks When Ready

By Rick Gershman

Six songs into her show Tuesday at Jannus Landing, Lucinda Williams and her band began to hear calls from fans for some up- tempo favorites.

"We'll do Changed the Locks and Joy," she responded, chastising the crowd in good-natured fashion. "We've got to work up to it. Y'all just chill out."

Williams didn't follow with "like us," but it would have been appropriate. While she performed selections from her remarkable catalog of blues, country, rock and folk songs in fine form, Williams opened the show in such a relaxed manner that some in the packed courtyard grew restless.

Perhaps the crowd's calls had some effect, because Williams shattered the leisurely tone with grooving renditions of I Lost It, Still I Long For Your Kiss and Righteously, the latter the lead single from 2003's Grammy-nominated World Without Tears.

Until that point, Williams - one of the most revered, if not prolific, songwriters in popular music - seemed happy to lull fans into a lovely, blissful trance by slowing the tempos of songs mostly culled from Tears.

Lean and mean at 51, Williams took the stage wearing skintight blue jeans, a black T-shirt and jacket, and an off-white cowboy hat. She played rhythm guitar throughout the night, opening with a relaxed rendition of Drunken Angel. That's a serene tune even in its studio version, but when Williams followed with Ventura, a highlight from Tears, she slowed it down to a crawl and followed with one of her lightest ballads, Reason to Cry.

Then again, even Williams at half-speed remains an astonishing experience for true believers. Next up was Those Three Days, a blisteringly heartbreaking winner from Tears.

Williams' aching, gritty voice remains one of the most heartfelt and distinctive in music, and Days is so personal and intimate it's chilling. Her voice echoed with the agony of love lost as she sang: "Scorpions crawl across my screen, make their home beneath my skin. . . . Did you only want me for those three days? Did you love me forever just for those three days?"

After Williams got the crowd dancing with Righteously and People Talkin', she placated fans with Changed the Locks, memorably covered by Tom Petty, and Joy. The latter worked up into a blistering jam led by lead guitarist Doug Pettibone, the not-so-secret weapon in Williams' arsenal. In addition to electric guitar and mandolin solos, Pettibone complemented Williams with backup vocals and punctuated several songs with grooving harmonica.

Williams' hardest-rocking song from Tears, Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings, wrapped up her set after a tight 12 tunes. She returned minutes later with an encore that kicked off with two blues numbers, a throwback to her first blues-folk recordings of decades ago. She followed with two highlights from her most popular album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road: Lake Charles was a brilliantly bittersweet memorial to a old friend, and she dedicated Bus to Baton Rouge to her mother, who is in the hospital.

Prior to a concert that would not occur as scheduled, the Charlotte Observer printed this article:

Few artists face bigger expectations with each album than Lucinda Williams.

The past decade-plus has brought a string of records that have consistently landed Williams on year-end top 10 lists, beginning with her 1988 self-titled CD and continuing through "Sweet Old World" (1992), "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (1998) and "Essence" (2001).

In 2001, Time magazine named her America's best songwriter, a notion that would probably be seconded by many other publications and pop critics. Her affecting blend of country, blues and rock, coupled with lyrics that are earthy, honest and often jarringly emotional make Williams' albums a deep and powerful listening experience.

Williams performs at the Visulite Theatre on Sunday, although the show has already sold out.

The fact that Williams has begun to enjoy considerable commercial success -- the Grammy-winning "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" went gold and brought her to the cusp of mainstream stardom -- has only raised the stakes for each new CD. She was nominated for two more Grammys this year for her latest CD, "World Without Tears."

But to hear Williams tell it, she long ago figured out how to keep the pressure of great expectations from affecting her creative process.

"I already sort of got through the hump of that," said Williams, who released "World Without Tears" last spring. "I actually had a harder time after I did that Rough Trade record," she added, referring to a 1988 album she released on the independent label Rough Trade Records. The album won big kudos from critics. Two of its songs were covered by big stars: "Passionate Kisses" (by Mary Chapin Carpenter) and "The Night's Too Long" (Patty Loveless).

It took Williams four years to complete her follow-up, "Sweet Old World." She ended up scrapping two versions of it before recording a third version she felt was worthy of release.

Her next album, "Car Wheels," went through a similarly protracted birth, finally arrived in stores six years later.

Williams said disagreements with her record labels were factors in the long intervals

"Between Rough Trade (which went out of business after the `Lucinda Williams' album came out) and `Car Wheels,' I was on three different record labels, or four, really," said Williams. "I was on Rough Trade, then I was on RCA, then I was on Chameleon (which released `Sweet Old World'), and then I was on American..."

After Mercury released "Car Wheels," Williams shifted to the alternative-country label Lost Highway Records, a Nashville, Tenn., imprint owned by the same parent company as Mercury. There, she's found a compatible label home. Both "Essence" and "World Without Tears" have been released in prompt succession. Both continued to cement Williams' stature as a premier artist.

For all the praise her earlier lyrics have drawn, Williams is most proud of her efforts on "World Without Tears." That's because her father, the noted poet Miller Williams, told her the new songs were the closest she had come to poetry.

"He's my toughest critic besides myself," said Lucinda. "I said, `Wow, does that mean I've graduated?' "

Here is the unfortunate notice about the cancellation:
Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC - March 9, 2004

Lucinda Williams cancels sold-out show

Family illness led to last-minute decision Sunday to leave town

COURTNEY DEVORES SPECIAL TO THE OBSERVER

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams canceled her sold-out performance at The Visulite Theater in Charlotte Sunday 20 minutes before doors were scheduled to open.

According to Bernie Brown, owner of The Visulite, Williams canceled her performance at the Elizabeth Avenue club because of an illness in her immediate family. Other upcoming shows in Williams' tour also have been cancelled.

Sources said Monday that Williams left Charlotte shortly after canceling the show to be with her ailing mother in Fayetteville, Ark.

"We're in the process of rescheduling," said MaxxMusic's Gregg McCraw, the show's promoter. "We're not sure when that will be yet, but tickets will be honored."

"The fans were very cooperative, they took it very well," McCraw added, even though some learned the news standing outside the club in Sunday's sudden windstorm.

"It's a bummer. I think it's the first time she's come to Charlotte," said Linda Brown, who arrived at the venue around 9 p.m. "Get her to Charlotte and this happens."

Bernie Brown said he asked opening act The Bottle Rockets if they'd like to go on anyway, but the Missouri-based band declined. "They just didn't feel comfortable with it," he said.

Brown said about 30 patrons had flown in from outside the Carolinas to see Williams' planned show in the intimate Visulite, which holds 540 people. "She usually plays 2,500-seat rooms," Brown said.

In 1993, Williams, 51, won a Grammy for writing Mary Chapin-Carpenter's hit "Passionate Kisses." Her critically acclaimed breakthrough "Car Wheels on A Gravel Road" was awarded best Contemporary Folk Album in 1998. She won another Grammy in 2001 for Best Female Rock Vocal for her song "Get Right With God." She began her musical career in 1979. Her latest album is 2003's "World Without Tears."

The cancelled concerts will probably be rescheduled in August.  When Lucinda returns to this country after her April tour in New Zealand & Australia, her touring will resume in California in May.