Seeing Lucinda

Seeing Lucinda

Williams

By KAREN SHADE World Scene writer
5/1/2007 7:42 AM

Anne McCue opens for Lucinda Williams at Cain's Ballroom on Tuesday night.

With the release of "West" in February, Williams continues to gain a wider audience drawn to her individual sound merging classic country, Deep South blues, ambling folk and guitar-searing rock.

Beginning with the acoustic-humming folk album "Ramblin' " in 1979, Williams' work as a musician, singer and songwriter has evolved with every release. Her most celebrated work, 1998's "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road," earned her a Grammy and brought her the wider acclaim that eluded earlier stunners such as the singles "Pineola" and "Side of the Road."

"West" further secures Williams' reputation as one of the country's best and more gutsy songwriters, willing to lay bare raw spirit to rhythm and melody. Whether tender ("Are You Alright?"), heartbreaking ("Where is My Love?") or excruciatingly sensual ("Unsuffer") and bitter ("Come On"), Williams' consistently takes the listener in new directions that resound, but have rarely been translated like this before.

By KAREN SHADE World Scene writer