Tag: Clifton Chenier

Lucinda Williams: A Folk Singer’s Heart and A Rock Star’s Swagger

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

With a folk singer’s heart and a rock star’s swagger, Lucinda Williams gets it right on World’s Gone Wrong. Produced by Ray Kennedy and Tom Overby and released January 23, 2026, the topical album shows no love for the current president; instead, Williams turns to the musicians in her band, R&B legend Mavis Staples, and even a Bob Marley classic to put her own beliefs front and center.

As protesters take to the streets across America, Williams is reaching people where they live by maintaining an impressive tour schedule, just as she’s done for the last four or five decades.

BGS caught up with Williams for an Artist of the Month interview by phone, in motion and outspoken.

First off, I just want to say I love the electric guitar on this record.

Lucinda Williams: Yeah, I’ve got two of the best in my band, Doug Pettibone and Marc Ford. Marc was in the Black Crowes before and Doug’s been with me for a while. The two of them just play off of each other. They’re really great when you see the band live.

Thanks for saying that. I’ll pass that on! I’ve always managed to find really good guitar players to work with me. It’s important to me, having a good guitar sound in the band, both live and on the record.

This record’s got that live energy, which is hard to capture on an album. What were the sessions like putting this album together?

Wow! You’ve said all the right stuff that I want to hear! I love you! [Laughs] But like you said, it’s hard to get the recording to reflect that. That’s why I’m so excited that came across, but I always record live for the most part. … We’re all situated in that part of the studio where we’re recording, but the vocals are isolated, just for the sake of convenience, so we don’t have to worry about the [tracking band] bleeding in, in case there’s a mistake. But it has that live feel, because we’re not putting down certain things and then coming in later. The drummer is not coming in separately and putting the drum track down, that kind of thing. We’re putting down the basic track all at the same time, together.

I would be playing guitar normally, but since I had my stroke about five years ago, I’m struggling with it. That hasn’t come back all the way yet, unfortunately. Which makes it even more challenging, because normally I would set up the vibe and the feel on acoustic rhythm guitar, and then the guys would follow me and fall in behind me. So, now one of the other guitar players has to fill in for me. And even though they’re both great guitar players, nobody’s going to do a rhythm thing exactly like I do. That’s a little bit of a challenge right now, but we managed to pull it off somehow.

You’ve had so many musicians that have worked with you over the years. When it’s time to hire somebody in the studio or in your band, what qualities are you looking for?

Probably just being aware of different styles of music. I can’t read or write music, so for me to have to discuss something to another musician, I usually use a reference of another artist. And I might say, “I want to play this song kind of like Clifton Chenier,” like a zydeco thing. And if they don’t know who that is, it’s hard for me to describe it musically. So, the easiest and best way is just [bringing up] the sound of another style of music and using an artist to describe that.

What was on your mind as you were writing the song, “The World’s Gone Wrong”?

Well, what do you think? What’s going on right now, every single damn day. There’s some other crazy piece of news surrounding the so-called King of the United States. Or he wants to be king. He wants to name the Kennedy Center after himself. That stuff builds up in your mind, and after a while it’s therapeutic to sit down and write a song about it. Just get it out of your system. … I just remember, every single day there’d be something on the news, in the newspaper, on TV or somewhere online. You couldn’t get away from it. It was pervasive. It was just on my mind a lot, of course, and still is.

This might be venturing out a little bit, but it seemed like a love song too, because these two people in the song are leaning on each other.

Yeah, I’m glad you brought that up. I’m glad you saw that in there. I think it’s an interesting way of dealing with the political unrest, by painting a picture of a regular, everyday couple and what they’re going through. So you can express it that way.

I’ll shift it over to “Low Life,” because I feel like I’m sitting at that bar with you when I listen to that song. And I also like those bars where you can be anonymous and no one really knows you. When you’re out on tour, do you look for places like that?

Yeah, the guys and me will look for a cool little place to maybe go hang out after the show. It’s hard to find one, though, where they won’t know who we are, because then they’ll want to come up and talk and stuff. A lot of times the guys will go somewhere and I’ll be like, “I want to go! Take me! Take me!” And they’ll go, “Lu, you’re not going to want to go, because it’s going to be swamped with fans and everybody’s going to want to talk to you,” and all that. Then I get all disappointed because I can’t go. [Laughs] So I’d just stay on the bus.

We end up hanging out on the bus more often than not. That becomes our little bar. I like to fraternize with the band guys after we do a show. I like to bond with them a little bit on the tour bus.

I noticed you’re going on the road with the band Heart in March. When that offer came through, what made you think, “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Well, turns out they were fans of my music, which I wasn’t aware of, and I guess their people reached out to my people… or my person [laughs] and wanted to take me out with them. Ann and Nancy Wilson are just two of the nicest people ever, real down to earth. We went out and already did some shows with them not too long ago. It seemed like with their fans and my fans, there was kind of an overlap there. It seemed to work musically as a bill.

I don’t think enough has been said about Nancy’s playing. I caught a documentary a while back on the music scene in Seattle back in the day, and with Heart a lot of people don’t realize they were there then, right when Nirvana was around. They were a little bit different, but I hadn’t realized how proficient Nancy was on the electric guitar and I was just sitting there watching it like, “Oh my God!” And Ann’s voice – they’ve got what it takes, that’s for sure.

You’re back out on the road, you’ve got this new album, and I’m sure there are a lot of other things in the works. What are you enjoying most about this stage of your career?

Being able to go out and do shows with artists like Heart. I got to go out and do shows with a tour featuring Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. I got to go out and do shows with the Allman Brothers. I’ve met so many fantastic, legendary artists over the years who like my music. And some might be a surprise. I was surprised, actually.

Like, Joey Ramone was a fan. David Byrne is a fan. Robert Plant is a big fan and I’ve done quite a few shows with him. So that’s been a big boost. Those probably have been the highlights of my career, being able to connect with those kinds of artists. The people I listened to when I was starting out and looked up to.

It was interesting to hear you include “So Much Trouble in the World” on this record. What did you like most about Bob Marley’s original version of that song?

First of all, I feel like that song was ahead of his time and it still rings true today. It’s still so fresh and could have been written yesterday. It’s still relevant. People still love the song. It’s got a great melody. Nobody can do it like Bob Marley did, though. I was a little self-conscious about that when we cut that song, because I was thinking, “What are people going to think? Me covering a Bob Marley song?” Like, “What does she think she’s doing?” But it’s a great song to play live. And like I said, it’s so much about what’s going on right now.

Having Mavis Staples on that recording is such a treat. What did she bring to the track?

She just added a whole extra level of soul, and thought, and everything. And we didn’t tell her what to sing or how to do anything. We didn’t give her parts to do or anything like that. We just showed her where the vocal booth was. You know, “Here’s the microphone,” turn it on, and she just let it rip. We’re so grateful to have her on there. And every single person I’ve done an interview with has mentioned her. Like, “What’s this about Mavis Staples on the record? How did you get her in the studio?” and all this. Everybody’s so excited to hear her on there.

I also wanted to ask you about “Too Far to Turn Around.” It feels like something we could sing at a protest march, but it’s kind of like a meditation, too.

Yeah. Thank you so much. I love hearing you say that, because that’s what I had in mind when I was writing it. Exactly that. I was thinking about songs like “We Shall Overcome” and everybody singing it together and holding hands. Because I experienced that myself back in the ‘60s. When I was a teenager, I used to go to all these marches and demonstrations. And music was the thing that kind of brought people together back then.

Those kinds of songs like “We Shall Overcome” were being sung and Bob Dylan was writing all those amazing protest songs like “Masters of War,” which I used to sing. I’d get my guitar, go to these things, and sometimes they’d ask me to sing. I’d do those kinds of songs, like Joan Baez and all. I mean, there was just a gamut of great folk singers. That’s what they used to call us! I kind of wish that would come back. Just call it folk music. The people’s music.

Continue exploring our Artist of the Month coverage of Lucinda Williams here.

Photo Credit: Mark Seliger

BGS 5+5: Curtis Salgado

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Curtis Salgado
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Newest Album: Damage Control

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

In 2009 I was to perform two songs for the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee. You’re only allowed 10 minute and the schedule is tight. After we finished our songs the MC, Bill Wax, ran up and said “Curtis, B.B. King wants to sit in with you. You’ve got to do something NOW!!” So I turned around and counted off a B.B. King shuffle. Next thing I know B.B.’s valet brings a chair AND B.B. KING comes up sits in the chair. He grabs the microphone and says, “I’m not playing until he gets a chair,” and he pointed to me. So his valet brings me a chair. I sit in it and I started singing a B.B. King song. B.B. smiled and started playing the guitar. Am I dreaming? I’m singing and B.B.’s playing guitar behind me. The crowd went nuts. I don’t think I felt my feet touch the ground for a week afterwards.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

#1: To witness performances by the best musicians in the world.

#2: To share my own music to as many people as I can.

#3: To pay my bills stress-free and to see as much of the world before I die.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

This is easy. A true story: In kindergarten my teacher pinned a note to my shirt. She said, “Give this to your mother and don’t lose it.” When I got home my mother saw the note took it off me and read it. She said, “It says here that Mrs. McGilvery says you have a nice voice, and they want you to sing two songs, ‘Jesus Loves Me Yes I Know’ and ‘I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.’” My mother was a good piano player, and we went right to work learning the songs.

When it came time to play, it was in a church auditorium and the auditorium was full of people — parents and relatives of the kids who went to this particular kindergarten. Another little boy and I were supposed to sing these two songs together. But he saw that audience and he just completely froze up. But I dived right into the song and every now and then I would elbow him in the side to encourage him to join me. He never did. He just stood there, stunned. The audience thought this was adorable and I sang those songs loud and clear. The applause and cheers from the audience was deafening. From then on, I was hooked. Nuff said.

What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?

I’ve been working on a new song for a while. I started it a couple years ago. I am attempting to write a Bolero — a Spanish Latin slow ballad. I have finished the music and I think It’s gorgeous. It could stand on its own without the lyrics I’ve never written a song like this before. But the lyrics are the toughest. It has to hold up to what the music is telling you…so wish me luck.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

Clifton Chenier with a pot of gumbo, andouille, and shrimp. (Please and thank you.)

Photo credit: Jessica Keaveny

BGS 5+5: Pony Bradshaw

Posted on by Editor

Artist name: Pony Bradshaw
Hometown: Chatsworth, Georgia
Latest album: Sudden Opera
Personal nicknames (or rejected band names): Buzz (It’s more than a nickname, I suppose. All my family and friends have called me “Buzz” since I was a baby.)

What artist has influenced you the most and how?

Growing up in East Texas (Redwater, TX – Home of the Dragons and Class of ’98) I was exposed to Townes Van Zandt relatively early. Him and Lightnin’ Hopkins. My tastes have definitely broadened over the last 20 years but I will always hold Townes in a consecrated view. His poetry and spirit I use as guides, or at least a highly subjective gold standard.

But over time I’ve tried to digest myriad styles of music, mostly because I get bored, and ultimately, hopefully, creating a ‘stomach of genres’ out of my own music, melding poetry, epic, history, satire, realism, etc. Maybe create something that consumes all categories to become one in and of itself. I don’t want to be afraid of ideas that I can’t bring to an absolute conclusion. It’s more about searching and learning than wrapping a song up real nice and neat for a listener. The ego is mighty, though.

Lately, I’ve been bedeviled by the works of a Hungarian writer named László Krasznahorkai. He writes dark, philosophical fiction, seemingly post-apocalyptic, dense as shit. Long paragraph-length sentences sometimes a page long. I read an essay of his that reminded me that art can be practiced unsuccessfully and to think that success is the only way to be an artist is ludicrous. Also, it ends with, “be like a ninja.” I try to keep it in the back of my head and I’ve written it in a few places so I stumble upon it now and then.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

Over the past couple of years, songwriting has become more of a sacred act for me. More mystical. But you can’t wait around for inspiration to show her face just as you can’t beg her to accompany you in the trenches. There’s a fine line, a sweet spot, if you will, that I’ve learned to recognize. It usually means being free of outside responsibility for at least 3-4 hours straight. Dependence on uninterrupted time is paramount. Trusting your voice or instinct is essential. Once you compromise yourself it’s hard for anyone to believe a single line you mutter.

I suppose my mantra, or mission statement is a concoction of mysticism, work, self-reliance, and idleness. A mixed bag of contrarieties, but I find it a more invigorating approach. I feel it an honor to even be considered a songwriter and a traveling musician. We’re just a band of peddlers trying to spread a personal gospel. The “job” or “trade” should be treated with respect and I aim to do just that. You must know everything. The minutiae, miscellany, etc. All knowledge comes from experience, some believe. I tend to agree. Then to distill that knowledge from experience and shape it into “art”, bound with poetry and melody, is what I strive to do everyday when I settle into my work. [It’s] an eternal devotion. You must be willing to play the long game. Chipping away, in search of le mot juste.

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

Regarding nature, I try to get out with my kids, up in the mountains, [do] yardwork or [go] swimming somewhere. I step onto my front porch in the morning and the mountains are the first thing I see. Or we might go traipsing along, or in, one of the many rivers surrounding us, all their names derived from Southeastern Native American languages: Conasauga (Cherokee word meaning “grass”); Hiwassee (Some Cherokee say the name comes from their language, meaning “meadow or savanna,” while the Creek say it means “copperhead snake” due to its heavy population of said snake); Coosawattee (most likely a Creek word meaning “river cane”); and the Oostanaula (I like to agree with the folks that say it comes from the Cherokee word meaning “shoally” river).

We build spears out of sticks and arrowheads, tying the arrowheads on with tough long strips of leaves that look like sugar cane. The kids get all ate up with mosquitoes. It’s a good time. But the majority of my outdoor time comes from mowing or watering flowers. I’ve never been one with balance. I’m usually working on songs or reading if I’m not hanging with my kids.

What other art forms – literature, film, dance, painting, etc. – inform your music?

Literature would be the front runner. I’m a bibliophile and sometimes wish I could just get paid to read. I’m now a card-carrying member of the The Melville Society, which prints a literary journal three times a year called The Leviathan: A Journal of Melville Studies. That’s something I never saw coming 15 years ago. I watch a lot of movies, too. Even the bad ones are useful in terms of making me think from a different perspective or just gleaning information. I watched Bela Tarr’s Turin Horse a couple of months ago. He’s a lifelong friend of Krasznahorkai and they’ve collaborated on many projects. It seems the Hungarians treat art in a different manner than Americans — or the majority of Americans, to be fair. I love to paint, too. In fact I just picked up some new oil paints the other day with plans to finish a painting I started of my oldest son. I keep changing the color of his shirt. It’s been staring at me for months, unfinished, abandoned.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

I love barbecue and the best I’ve had was at B’s Cracklin BBQ down in Savannah, Georgia. He has a spot in Atlanta now, too. B (Bryan Furman) actually helped get me rolling when I started smoking pig parts and chicken at home. We’d talk about temperatures, smoke times, and types of wood, but he’d never give me the exact recipe for his rub. He’s a good dude. So, B’s barbecue, and if we could resurrect the King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, I believe we’d be sitting on go.

Photo credit: Tom Bejgrowicz