When I first noticed Lucinda Williams, I had no idea who she was. I saw her as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. I thought to myself, 'This chick looks cool'. Man, she was wearin' black leather pants, motorcycle boots, a cowboy hat and playing guitar. I turned up the sound on the TV and she was doing "Can't Let Go" - a sort of bluesy rock song with a hook I couldn't get out of my head for days.

I immediately went out and bought 'Car Wheels on a Gravel Road', her latest Grammy nominated Polygram release. You know how you buy a CD for the hit song and the rest of the songs are crap? Every song on this album is brilliant. Turns out Lucinda Williams is probably the best unknown songwriter in America today. It also turns out that it's very hard to put a label on Lucinda. Is she rock, blues, country or pop? Turns out she's all that. From the rock song "Can't Let Go" to the poppy "Right in Time" - which incidentally is about masturbation, which is kinda cool in itself. Don't you think? One of the most real, gritty and sad songs is "Drunken Angel". A true story of a friend and a guitar player who could not keep it together, who let go of everything and shot himself in the heart. My personal favorite on the album is called "Metal Firecracker". Sorry but I can't tell you about this one. Words cannot adequately convey how great this tune really is. You're just gonna have to borrow it from a friend or steal it from your local record store.

Let me tell you a little about Lucinda's life and career. She was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana and has been in the music business for 20 years. She currently resides in Nashville, two doors down from Emmylou Harris (who sang harmony vocals on the song "Greenville", the tenth track on 'Car Wheels on a Gravel Road'). As a child she moved around The South a lot. From Jackson to Vicksburg to Fayetteville to Macon to Atlanta to New Orleans, and Baton Rouge. Her career has been long but she has only released five albums. Ramblin', Happy Woman Blues, Lucinda Williams, Sweet Old World and Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Even though she wrote "Passionate Kisses" which was a hit for Mary Chapin Carpenter; and Tom Petty recorded her song "Changed the Locks", she was known mainly as a songwriter. She never made it mainstream until "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road".

Part 2 - The Stalkin' begins.
I obsessed over her CD. I listened to it night and day. I looked up her website, as stalkers will do from time to time. I scoured the papers til finally I spotted it. Three nights at the House of Blues. I was there. Give me my tickets, thank you very much. The countdown began. Three weeks, two weeks, one week, three days ... yes, I'm excited. One more day. LUCINDA WILLIAMS. Whoooo hooo. Here I come. Finally, Thursday night, 10 pm show - but I get there at 9:30 am (well, mentally at least). The first band goes on, I, of course ignored them, I'm sure they were nice guys, but let's get real!!! 'Get off the stage'!!!!! C'MON LUCINDA!!!!!!! As my excitement built to nuclear meltdown and the crowds alcohol level rose, BAM!!!!!! Lucinda Williams... onstage. Wearin' black leather pants and motorcycle boots, just like I remembered her. She played the audience like a fiddle. She took us from the greasy blues of New Orleans to the down and dirty rock of Los Angeles to the country twang of Nashville. Her band played like a well-oiled '55 Ford pickup truck. I've been playing guitar all my life and not many guitar players impress me, but her guitar player Kenny Vaughan blew my boots off. Usually I stand in the back and try to blend in, but not tonight because I was stalkin'...whoops... I mean since I was trying to get close to my hero. I stood there, right against the stage, freakin out over every song she played. She started hard and she ended even harder, I recommend seeing Lucinda play live anytime and every time. The show lasted about an hour and 40 minutes and after three encores Lucinda very humbly left the stage.

And LET ME TELL YA what happened after that. I paid $40 for a backstage pass to an unnamed source. I had the magic green card in my hand. I walked in like I deserved to be there and smiled at the security guard. My heart pounding, but determined, I walked straight through the door with the star that said 'Lucinda Williams'. Inside, there she was, it was LUCINDA!!!!!! Obviously there were a number of people around her that wanted to suck up just like I did. So I thought I would come back when I could corner her - um I mean, talk to her.

I retreated to the balcony where Kenny Vaughan was entertaining a crowd of boot lickers. I cut in line. I had to. I had to TELL him that he blew me away. I don't know why, but I HAD to. My doctors tell me that this is a "stalker's trait", I myself believe that it is just a way of showing respect when respect is due. Anyway, after I had paid my respects. I let the crowd get back to their bootlicking. I, after all, was on a mission. I snuck back to Lucinda's dressing room. This time the crowd had diminished. I crept up to her, trying not to scare her and said with a big grin on my face: "Lucinda, I just gotta tell you that your album is the best one I've heard in years" and "I saw you on Saturday Night Live and thought 'This chick is cool'". She smiled and called security....just jokin', she was very nice and obviously embarrassed. And very shy. She thanked me and then I pummeled her with questions. She answered them very graciously and offered to pose for some pictures with me. I don't really remember much about the drive home. It was the best concert I ever saw and meeting her is something that I'll never forget.

P.S. Just kidding about the stalkin' part, Lucinda. I love ya.