#buick 6

This post won’t have much to do with Bob Dylan‘s 1965 song, it’s just the coolest thing we could think of to call it. May 19, 1903 was the date the Buick Motor Company was incorporated, and like most major American corporations they underwrote broadcast productions. Scots-American founder David Dunbar Buick was originally a plumber with a few inventions under his belt before he became interested…

Lucinda Williams Comes to the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

TROY, NEW YORK     The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Corporation is excited to announce another concert in our 2019-2020 Season!

Lucinda Williams and her band Buick 6

Wednesday, September 18, 2019, 8 PM, Tickets:  $65.50, $55.50, $45.50, $39.50

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of her highly-influential masterpiece, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, three-time Grammy award winner Lucinda Williams…

Lucinda Williams Celebrates an Album Milestone at the Beacon Theatre

Lucinda Williams – Beacon Theatre – November 7, 2018

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of her beloved (and highly acclaimed) full-length Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams and her band, Buick 6, performed for a sold-out crowd at the Beacon Theatre on Wednesday night. The show also featured album producers and contributors Steve Earle and E Street Band pianist Roy Bittan, in what Williams said was the first time the three of them had played the songs together live.

Accompanied by a video slideshow of nostalgic photos and handwritten lyrics, Williams spoke candidly about the origins of each of the album’s songs, sharing anecdotes and reflections. Regarding the title track, Williams simply described the initial inspiration as “life seen through a child’s eyes.” It wasn’t until she had later played it for her father that he helped her realize that she had actually written the song about her own childhood experiences. Williams also spoke about an unsuccessful “road romance” that blossomed and fizzled while on tour that inspired both “Metal Firecracker” and “I Still Long For Your Kiss,” and then ultimately, a number about “getting the guy out of my system”—the spirited and strong-willed “Joy.”

Billy Joe Shaver, Wanda Jackson, Rosie Flores,

Scott H. Biram, Laura Cantrell and Buick 6

to its 2017 Cruise

Billy Joe Shaver

Buick 6

Laura Cantrell

Rosie Flores

Scott H Biram

Wanda Jackson

Here’s the rest of listing for the 2017 Cruise which sails out of Tampa Florida February 26 to March 2 2017.

Blackberry Smoke

The Mavericks

Lucinda Williams

Steve Earle & The Dukes

Jessi Colter

Shooter Jennings and Waymore’s Outlaws

Joe Ely Band

Carlene Carter

Chris Knight

Dale Watson & His Lone Stars

Ray Benson

Old 97’s

Elizabeth Cook

Jim Lauderdale

Drivin’ n Cryin’

The Secret Sisters

Supersuckers

Bottle Rockets

The Mastersons

Jesse Dayton

HeyBale!

Dallas Wayne

Roger Alan Wade

Mojo Nixon

***

Saw Lucinda Williams last night at the World Café.  Her backup band was Buick 6 and they were stellar.  Guitarist Stuart Mathis, former lead guitarist for the Wallflowers and who could have been a double for Donnie in the Big Lebowski, brought a weathered grind to their sound, employing various tones reminiscent of Santana, SRV, and Frisell.  He is a monster.  They played a set without Lucinda to start the evening and I’m so glad I made it to the opening of the show, where my usual routine is to time the headliner and arrive just before they go on.  Last night’s early arrival rewarded us with a blistering set of mostly instrumentals that never lapsed into jam band mediocrity.  

On the way to the show, I voiced my desire to hear Lucinda sing Metal Firecracker, my favorite of her earlier work.  Then, when she walked on stage and the band dropped into the first notes of the song, I felt that the night was destined to be a memorable event.  I wasn’t let down.  Her voice is transfixing, the notes lingering just long enough to practically drip into the next phrase.  The songs off her current album played well live, particularly the powerful Dust set to a poem authored by her recently deceased poet father.  Another highlight was when Amos Lee joined them for an otherworldly rendition of Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come.  As Lucinda stated, why isn’t Amos Lee more popular?  His voice is a perfect foil to Lucinda’s, with subtle fluctuations that ride along with her southern speckled phrasings.  

After the Sam Cooke cover, which started the encore, the band led Lucinda into rousing versions of Springsteen’s The Rising and Young’s Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World, as the crowd sang along with equal fervor.  

On the ride home, I tried to place her in the lexicon of performers I’ve seen in my lifetime, and I kept coming back to Nina Simone for some reason.  That voice, and a touch of performance diva, kept us enthralled and wanting more.  She walks a performance tightrope with the crowd not sure if she’s going to make it to the next song.  Whether it was the red wine she sipped throughout the set or just her general disposition, the effect was mesmerizing.  

Were I one to keep a bucket list, I could now check off seeing Lucinda live.  It was that good.