Lucinda Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American rock, folk, and country music singer and songwriter. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she was 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. Her father worked as a visiting professor in Mexico and Chile as well as different parts of the American South, before settling at the University of Arkansas. His daughter showed an affinity for music at an early age, and was playing guitar at 12.
By her early 20s, Williams was playing publicly in Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas, concentrating on a folk-rock-country blend. She moved to Jackson, Mississippi in 1978 to record her first album, for Smithsonian/Folkways Records. Titled Ramblin' on My Mind, it was a collection of country and blues covers. She followed it up in 1980 with Happy Woman Blues, which consisted of her own material. Neither album received much attention.
In the 1980s Williams moved to Los Angeles, California, where she signed to Rough Trade Records. Her eponymous album, Lucinda Williams, came out on that label in 1988. The single "Changed the Locks", about a broken relationship, received radio play around the country and gained fans among music insiders, including Tom Petty, who would later cover the song.
Lucinda Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American rock, folk, and country music singer and songwriter. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she was 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. Her father worked as a visiting professor in Mexico and Chile as well as different parts of the American South, before settling at the University of Arkansas. His daughter showed an affinity for music at an early age, and was playing guitar at 12.
By her early 20s, Williams was playing publicly in Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas, concentrating on a folk-rock-country blend. She moved to Jackson, Mississippi in 1978 to record her first album, for Smithsonian/Folkways Records. Titled Ramblin' on My Mind, it was a collection of country and blues covers. She followed it up in 1980 with Happy Woman Blues, which consisted of her own material. Neither album received much attention.
In the 1980s Williams moved to Los Angeles, California, where she signed to Rough Trade Records. Her eponymous album, Lucinda Williams, came out on that label in 1988. The single "Changed the Locks", about a broken relationship, received radio play around the country and gained fans among music insiders, including Tom Petty, who would later cover the song.
