Victoria Williams

Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams in her yard c. 1990
Background information
Born	(1958-12-23) December 23, 1958 (age 58) Shreveport, Louisiana, United States
Genres	Folk, folk rock, country, alternative country
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Geffen, Mammoth, Atlantic, Thirsty Ear Recordings
Associated acts	The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, The Thriftstore Allstars, The Incredibly Strung Out Band, Pearl Jam, Lou Reed
Website	www.victoriawilliams.net

Victoria Williams (born December 23, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. She is noted for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she has used to immerse the listener of her songs into a vivid feeling of small-town, rural Southern upbringing and life. Her best-known songs include "Crazy Mary", and "Century Plant", and much of her work finds inspiration in nature, ("Weeds", "Century Plant," "Why Look at the Moon"), everyday objects ("Shoes," "Frying Pan") and the unseen, as in "Holy Spirit".

Williams was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 1986, she worked with then husband Peter Case on his debut album, following a year later with her own debut, Happy Come Home, produced by Anton Fier, with an accompanying 28 minute documentary by D. A. Pennebaker. In 1990 she released Swing the Statue. She also often appeared onstage and on record with the band Giant Sand. In 1993 she acted in Gus Van Sant's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, who also made the video for Tarbelly and Featherfoot.

In 1993, as Williams' career was beginning to take off, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Because she did not have health insurance, an array of artists, including Pearl Jam, Lou Reed, Maria McKee, Dave Pirner, and Lucinda Williams, recorded some of Williams' songs on CD for a benefit project called Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams. This led to the creation of the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a charity that aids professional musicians in need of health care. That year, Williams also released a new album, titled Loose. A second album, covering the songs of Vic Chesnutt, was recorded for the Sweet Relief Fund in 1996 under the title Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, and Williams performed a duet with Chesnutt on the album.