Some artists blow the roof off a theater, others have wild stage performances to enhance their music, some have dancers choreographed on stage to keep your eyes glued on anything but them, then there are artists who just come out and blow you away with their amazing voice.

Lucinda Williams is one of those artists.  Nothing fancy, no exploding pyrotechnics or wild lights to seduce you into liking her mesmerizing voice; no this southern girl just soothes you back into your comfy chair and enjoy the sweet music.

Williams has songs to please any genre and no matter what your listening tastes might be, you’ll find a few tunes in her long list of hits that you’ll add to the iPod.  Having been around for 30+ years, Lucinda doesn’t have to be changing her tune every few years to try to reinvent herself.  She has a solid group of fans that range from teens to the Grand Parents of those young music lovers.  They come from all walks of life to hear her style of music, one that could be and is played on almost every station on the radio.

We had the chance to see this musical legend in Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater last week.  The same day of her newest album release, Wild Honey, the ninth of her studio releases.  Unlike some artists who go on tour to only push their new music, Miss Williams delighted the packed house with hits from past albums, told stories of where she was when she wrote the song and what the hits meant to her.  I’ll have to admit, that I love when artists do this.  It makes the song so much more meaningful when you know the story behind it and what was going through the song writers head when they put their thoughts to guitar strings.  Especially some of Lucinda's music that has dark undertones to it.  Some songs speak of death, overcoming alcohol or drug addiction and finding your place in this confusing world.  Maybe this is why her music appeals to such a wide range of people. 

It's real, and about real life issues.  Not gang-banging, wild partying and the Hollywood glamour others write about.  Williams writes about real life, the same one most of us deal with every single day.

I can’t imagine a better place to see an artist like this!  Lost Highway Records needs a huge pat on the back for having the forethought to book Lucinda with such a tight match for their artist’s style of music. Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater is small, quaint, acoustically perfect and had the feel of sitting in a recording studio while the band cut some tracks.  The sound was so tight, you could hear the guitarist’s fingers slide across the strings and the faint sound of air moving across the microphone if the singer was to breathe in heavy.

Lighted with nothing more than a few spot lights, Lucinda stood center stage belting out Blues, Rock-N-Roll, and blended her southern style of Country roots with her raspy voice and amazing words.  Of all the shows I’ve seen, this would be the tightest, best sounding performance I’ve seen to date.

If you have the chance, pick up her newest album Wild Honey and see for yourself why she’s been winning awards and music lover’s hearts for the past 30 years.

Story and Photos by Pat Bonish This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Make sure you visit Lucinda Williams at her website