Lucinda Williams
| Lucinda Williams | |
|---|---|
Williams at the Fillmore NYC, October 2009
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| Background information | |
| Born | January 26, 1953 |
| Origin | Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, acoustic guitar |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Buick 6, Elvis Costello, M. Ward |
| Website | LucindaWilliams |
Lucinda Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American rock, folk, blues, and country music singer and songwriter.
She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album, Lucinda Williams. This release featured "Passionate Kisses", a song later recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter, which garnered Williams her first Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 1994.
Known for working slowly, Williams recorded and released only one other album in the next several years (Sweet Old World in 1992) before her commercial breakthrough came in 1998 with Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, an album presenting a broader scope of songs that fused rock, blues, country and Americana into a more distinctive style that still managed to remain consistent and commercial in sound. Williams' greatest commercial success, the album went Gold and earned her another Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, while being universally acclaimed by critics.
Williams has released a string of albums since that have earned her more critical acclaim and 3 Grammy Awards, from 15 nominations. She was also named "America's best songwriter" by Time magazine in 2002.
Williams was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the daughter of poet and literature professor Miller Williams and an amateur pianist, Lucille Fern Day. Her parents divorced in the mid-1960s. Williams's father gained custody of her and her younger brother, Robert Miller, and sister, Karyn Elizabeth. Like her father, she has spina bifida. Her father worked as a visiting professor in Mexico and different parts of the United States, including Baton Rouge; New Orleans; Jackson, Mississippi; and Utah before settling at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Williams never graduated from high school but was accepted into the University of Arkansas. Williams started writing when she was 6 years old and showed an affinity for music at an early age, and was playing guitar at 12. Williams's first live performance was in Mexico City at 17, as part of a duo with her friend, a banjo player named Clark Jones.
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