Episode 64: Lucinda Williams


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Episode 64 of The JamBase Podcast, a partner of the Osiris Media network, features an interview with singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, who spoke with JamBase’s Andy Kahn earlier this week. This was the first full interview on the podcast not conducted in-person. With the COVID-19 pandemic, meeting up with musicians backstage before a show or at a festival for in-person interviews is no longer possible. The next closest thing to being in the same room right now is a Zoom call, and that is how Lucinda in East Nashville connected with Andy in Minneapolis.

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Another atypical aspect of the interview was the format. Normally, the podcast interviews are based on recurring themes like “The Art Of The Setlist,” “Tour Stories” or “Musical Mentors,” but for now those are being set aside. For this and future Zoom-based podcast interviews, no specific theme was chosen and instead, the discussion was a broader survey of how Williams is doing, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Williams also talked extensively about her excellent new album, Good Souls Better Angels, which came out in April. Williams discussed her songwriting process and how she developed the songs that became the record. She explained the autobiographic situation that led to writing one of the album’s hardest-hitting and emotionally raw tracks, “Wakin’ Up.” The interview also covered the role engineer and studio owner Ray Kennedy played in creating Good Souls Better Angels. Kennedy also worked with Williams on her acclaimed 1998 album, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.

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Williams touched on adapting to livestreaming over the past few months and plans for performing again at a socially-distanced Nashville venue. The discussion included an update on Williams’ house that was damaged by the March tornados that ravaged the Nashville area. And the chat ended with Williams telling the story of her rock ‘n’ roll wedding to her manager Tom Overby during one of her concerts at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

Stream Episode 64 of The JamBase Podcast below or through all major podcast services including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Podcast: