Like many other people, I welcomed Lucinda Williams into my life with the release of the Grammy-winning Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, in 1998. Over the course of the last 10 years, I’ve been a fascinated observer of her career, both on record, and on the road. I’ve had the opportunity to see her perform live on numerous occasions, and although her backing band tended to change with every new tour, she has always had a knack for employing some of the finest musicians available. This is particularly true of her guitar players, a group that has included such greats as Gurf Morlix, J.J. Jackson, Kenny Vaughan, Bo Ramsey, and her current sidekick, the redoubtable Doug Pettibone, who shines brightly on this album.

To follow Williams’ career is to listen as she bares her broken heart time and again in her songs. But there’s good news this time out: “I’m stepping out and writing about things other than unrequited love. But because that’s not part of my experience anymore doesn’t mean I’m going to stop being a songwriter,” she explains. “There are plenty of other important things to write about — the state of the world for one thing — I don’t buy into the myth that because you get to a certain level of contentment, you have to throw in the towel.” Hopefully some of her more satisfied contemporaries are listening. (more…)