At 70, Lucinda Williams is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. Just three years after suffering a stroke that forced her to learn how to walk again and robbed her of the ability to play the guitar, she is back with one of her strongest records in years, and proving she is still very much relevant in today’s disparate music scene.
For her latest, Stories from a Rock N Roll Heart, Williams brings in a slew of guests including Bruce Springsteen, Patty Scialfa, Jesse Malin, Buddy Miller, Margo Price, and Tommy Stinson, among others. Not being able to write songs on guitar, her MO for decades, Williams looked to collaborate with friends including Malin, who co-wrote three songs on the record. Ironically tragic, Malin recently suffered a stroke as well just weeks ago.
Despite what Williams has gone through recently, including a tornado that damaged her home in Nashville, the record is surprisingly triumphant, starting with the opening track “Let’s Get the Band Back Together.” The first single, “New York Comeback,” written by Williams, her husband Tom Overby and Malin, features Scialfa and Springsteen on backing vocals. It’s a powerful, slow-tempo rock track that serves as a template for the rest of the record. Elsewhere, she pays tribute to two deceased rock greats: Tom Petty on “Stolen Moments” Bob Stinson on “Hum’s Liquor.” The album closes on the seemingly melancholy, but ultimately defiant “Never Gonna Fade Away,” a perfect way to cap this inspiring record.
