LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 A little too country for rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, and a little too rock \u2018n\u2019 roll for country, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams has always played by her own rules.
That\u2019s never changed \u2014 even after November 2020, when she suffered a stroke. Williams underwent grueling rehabilitation, eventually leading to her memoir, \u201cDon\u2019t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You,\u201d and her album, \u201cStories from a Rock N Roll Heart.\u201d The latter, released earlier this summer, features contributions from Bruce Springsteen, his wife Patti Scialfa, Jesse Malin, Angel Olsen, Margo Price, Jeremy Ivey, Buddy Miller, and more.
\u201cThe recovery part is really hard because you get impatient,\u201d Williams told the Associated Press. \u201cYou want it to happen all at once.\u201d
On Saturday, Williams reaches another recovery milestone: her 2023 tour will kick off at the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
In a phone interview earlier this year, Williams spoke to the AP about her recovery, collaborating in new ways, and what\u2019s in store for the future.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
AP: You\u2019re hitting the road for \u201cStories from a Rock N Roll Heart,\u201d your first album since your stroke. Did the process of writing and recording change?
WILLIAMS: I wasn\u2019t able to write how I usually write, which is with my guitar, because I haven\u2019t been able to play. But I was able to make enough of a chord to make a note, and I\u2019d figure out something in my head. And, you know, my friends jumped in and helped by playing the chords. It turned into a collaboration, a collaborative effort. So, in a way, it was a mixed blessing. We ended up with songs we might not have otherwise.
It ended up being kind of liberating to work with other people because I hadn\u2019t really don\u2019t it before, to that extent.
AP: And, I imagine, the chemistry had to be right \u2014 like getting to work with some really impressive collaborators in Angel Olsen and Margo Price.
WILLIAMS: Margo, we\u2019ve started to (become) really good friends. She\u2019s in the same neighborhood we\u2019re in Nashville. We were in the studio and I think (my husband) Tom (Overby) suggested seeing if she wanted to come in and sing some background stuff and she was excited about it. She\u2019s just so fun to work with because she\u2019s real enthusiastic, and, you know, she\u2019s fun to be with. And then, Angel Olsen was in town already. She didn\u2019t live here. She\u2019s living in Asheville. But she was in Nashville when we were recording, so she came in and an added amazingly beautiful, really small little part vocal to \u201cJukebox,\u201d which I think just makes the whole song.
AP: It seems like you were never going to throw in the towel and stop writing and performing.
WILLIAMS: People are just amazed. They can\u2019t believe I\u2019ve been going out and playing shows and I\u2019m in the studio. I mean, I\u2019m still doing the same stuff. I can manage things well enough. I\u2019ve got a lot of great help. I\u2019ve got a great band, two fantastic guitar players \u2026 they play, and I sing.
AP: Are you hoping to one day play guitar again?
WILLIAMS: Yeah. The physical therapist gave me hand exercises that I do. I kind of stretch my fingers out. I do about 50 of those a day with my left hand. And I do some with my right hand, too, just in case. It\u2019s mainly the left side of my body that was affected. But, you know, I just try to think positive. I keep thinking, \u2018Well, I didn\u2019t know if I was going to be able to walk across the room without falling down at one point.\u2019 But I was able to, you know, I overcame that.
AP: At this stage in your career, I have to ask: Do you still feel too country for rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, and too rock \u2018n\u2019 roll for country?
WILLIAMS: I think the world\u2019s caught up, with Americana, you know, that\u2019s exactly what that is. I wish they would bring back \u201cfolk rock.\u201d
AP: What\u2019s next for you?
WILLIAMS: Another album. We\u2019re already talking about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n