By: Allison Gordon
Lucinda Williams and her band are playing select Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets shows on tour, which included a January 18 date at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. [lucindawilliams.com]
“You can’t keep a good woman down,” goes the old adage, and Lucinda Williams is living proof. Three years since a November, 2020 stroke impaired her left side, she has yet to resume playing guitar — but that hasn’t stopped Williams from putting on a solid show.
Seeing Lucinda Williams at the recently-reopened Longhorn Ballroom made for a special evening. The performance had a bit of a rough start; during her second song, Lucinda stepped backstage to quell a coughing fit. The band carried on in her absence, noodling while fans yelled out encouraging cheers like “You’ve got this” and “We love you, Lucinda!” Over the course of several Lucinda shows I’ve attended, I’ve noticed that her fan base is vehemently loyal and supportive — and the Longhorn crowd was no exception. She was greeted with a shout-filled standing ovation when she returned to the stage a few minutes later.
The Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets Tour is filled with poignant tales and memories spanning Lucinda’s life and career, possibly motivated by her brush with death in 2020, paired with accompanying video projections. The crowd lapped up her tender, vulnerable, and sometimes tragic tales — sometimes as simple as kittens drinking a comforting bowl of warm milk. Melancholy was on the menu, and Lucinda served it up piping hot.
The story that most struck me was for “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.” Williams recalled that she first played it for a live audience at The Bluebird in Denver; then, after the show, her father offered an apology — recognizing her pain woven into the final verse, “Child in the backseat, about four or five years / Lookin’ out the window / Little bit of dirt mixed with tears / Car wheels on a gravel road.” She confessed that she hadn’t realized, until that moment, how truly autobiographical those lyrics were.
Other story highlights comprised “Little Angel, Little Brother” — penned about Williams’ estranged younger brother, Robert — and “Heaven Blues,” written after the death of her mother, who’d struggled with mental illness throughout her life. Lucinda wrapped the show on a high note, however, with the tracks “Joy” and “Rock and Roll Heart.” As she belted out the latter’s last verse — Rock ‘n roll reached down into my house / Reached right down and pulled me out / Talked to me and I knew then, what I was gonna be all about — there’s no doubt that Lucinda Williams is going to continue climbing onto stages as long as her body allows her to, and her legions of adoring fans are going to keep showing up to support her as she does.
