Lucinda Williams at Railbird Festival...

I have seen New Orleans's great R&B singer Irma Thomas. I have seen Chicago's Koko Taylor. I have see punk rock princess Patti Smith. Now I can add Lucinda Williams to the list of great female singers and songwriters. 

Lucinda was born in Lake Charles and I love the lazy southern accent she sings in. She released more traditional country blues type music beginning in 1978 but it was 1994 when her music began to encompass sonic rock stylings to go with the roots leanings that has resulted in Grammy Awards that are much deserved. 

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She often name drops Lake Charles, Nacogdoches, Slidell and West Memphis. Maybe I like her so much because those are all good places to make bad decisions. I have been to those places and think I have most of her cds. 

The three piece band covers a lot of sonic ground. Did not get these guys names but the bass player turned a hollow body bass up so the could play the back percussively. I'll try that with my acoustic bass sometime. The big old cowboy looking drummer played all kinds of delicate tinkling percusive sounds in addition to the drum set back beat. 

Great guitar player with lots of gear eye candy for us guitar heads. Behind him looks to be a mid 60s Fender bandmaster, non reverb hooked up to a Leslie organ cabinet. That's some sonic goodness. I'm a big bandmaster fan myself since I own a 1968 reverb model. Always good to see someone giving big iron a go. 

Here's a video from last month, same band you would have seen at Railbird.