tntracy

Good news all “Jailhouse Tears” fans! After playing it at the show in Birmingham last night (w/ Doug singing the male part again – very well, too!), Lu mentioned it was going to be on the next album!

I posted up a set list, etc. for the show in the “Shows” forum if anyone is interested…

Tom

I saw Lu perform “Honey Bee” in July in Lexington, KY. I don’t remember the specifics about the song, but I remember I liked it & thought it was a fun, rockin’ song for a live show. Granted, I may not be the best judge – I have a broad, forgiving taste in music, and I am definitely biased towards Lucinda.

One thing I think is worthy of mentioning. Sometimes, an artist, even a “serious” artist like Ms. Williams, just wants to cut loose & play a song that is fun for them to sing & play. That might be the case here. Give ’em a break & let them get “wild & crazy” sometimes. It’s the least we can do for all the joy they bring us! ;o)

Tom

OK, I’ll play! ;o)

I’m male, in my late 40s, and a HUGE Lucinda fan. She is without any shadow of a doubt my favorite artist, and I LOVE music – have all my life – and I like a lot of varied kinds of music (I can relate to orlanan who said he likes Zeppelin, too – my favorite band all through high school, and still a favorite).

About 10 years ago, I really became a fan of female vocalists. Yet, for several years, Lucinda flew under my radar – I just hadn’t heard her or heard of her. So, late to the game, I found myself in a Borders bookstore using their in-store sampling system to check out new-to-me female vocalists when I stumbled upon “World Without Tears” (told you I was late!). I was immediately hooked. I bought it, and within a couple of weeks, I had every CD she had ever released to that point, from “Ramblin'” forward.

I can say unequivocally that I like everything that Lucinda has ever recorded. I know some fans are not as crazy about her newer stuff (i.e., many of the songs on “West”), or some of her hard rockers (“Joy”, “Atonement”, etc.) or some of her more “adventuresome” songs (like “American Dream”, “Wrap My Head Around That”, etc.), but I LOVE them all. Sure, I like some more than others, but her music (I hate to use a cliché here, but I will for lack of a better phrase) really “speaks” to me.

OK, now why is that so? Basically 3 things – the sad songs, the rockers, and the South.

First, I love her sad, blue songs. It’s not because I have been hurt deeply by past lovers – I am extremely fortunate in that I married the first true love of my life and, by the grace of God, we are still together 18 years later and I am happier than ever with our relationship (as is she, I believe). BUT, I can empathize so well with feelings of loss due to other events in my life. And, I’m not ashamed to admit, I have always been a “sensitive” male (OK, I admit it, I even get misty-eyed during sad movies!) who can relate to other’s pain and sadness. And, like I believe lucfan4ever said, when I get blue (and I often do – it’s a family tradition!), I often “revel” in it…

So, of all the female singer-songwriters, Lu’s work is by far the most heart-wrenching & poignant to me. In this vein, I love “Those Three Days”, “Bus To Baton Rouge”, “Lake Charles” (always tears my eyes up), “Blue”, “Broken Butterflies”, etc. The raw-edged emotions and personal subjects that Lu bares for the world to see in such songs is simply amazing.

But, there’s also the rockers. I love a good, hard-rockin’ song, especially one sung by a woman. Songs like “Joy”, “Essence”, “Out of Touch” (not the original version, which I also like, but the one that ended up on “Essence”), “Changed The Locks”, “Real Live Bleeding Fingers…”, etc. I love these songs, especially live (I’ll never forget, after the show the last time I saw her here in Atlanta, a girl was walking out of the venue – granted, a little drunk – and shouted, “DAMN! That chick can ROCK!!!!”).

Finally, but certainly not least, it is the South that Lu evokes in her music. I have lived in the deep South since I was 4 years old, and I love it here. I visited New Orleans several times as a child, and my wife and I honeymooned there. Songs like “Car Wheels…”, “Pineola”, “2 Kool…”, “Crescent City”, etc. all paint such an amazing picture of a part of a country that is a part of my soul.

And (sorry for the long post!), in the same vein of the South, I love old-time Americana music & old Delta Blues. So, all of “Ramblin'” & “Happy Woman Blues”, along with later songs like “Concrete & Barbed Wire”, “Jailhouse Tears”, etc. are close to home for me (so to speak).

Then there’s the songs that a buddy of mine (also a male fan – from New Orleans) calls the “crooners”. Then… And then… Well, I think you get the idea. Lucinda, for me, in one amazing musical artist and poet, pulls together so many emotions, places, times in my life, musical styles, and people that I’ve known all in one incredible package such that no one else comes close to her in my humble opinion. My wife & I are driving to Birmingham tomorrow to see her for the 10th time, and I am as excited as the first time I saw her.

Tom