NAPA — Lucinda Williams' songs are littered with stories of death, regret and loss, "beautiful losers who live on," as she described them Friday night at the Uptown Theatre.
In many spots, Williams made the intimate, 860-seat venue feel more like a taping for "VH1 Storytellers" as she uncorked the tales behind many of her tunes.
The origin stories gave her songs significance. "Drunken Angel" was inspired by the late singer/songwriter Blaze Foley, who was shot in the chest and killed by a family friend during an argument. Framed with that knowledge, the opening lines, "Sun came up it was another day / And the sun went down you were blown away" carried a gravity to level the audience.
The impetus for "Memphis Pearl" was a woman Williams saw digging through a trash can in Los Angeles, creating a back story that explained how she might have come to that place in life.
When introducing "Can't Let Go," one of her more popular cuts, Williams noted a friend recently emailed her a link to a Washington Post story about the current Republican presidential campaign which referenced the tune's chorus: "It's over — I know it, but I can't let go."
Her set also included a cover of Bob Dylan's "Tryin' to Get to Heaven," which she recently released on Chimes of Freedom, Amnesty International's multidisc Dylan covers project.
The 58-year-old songstress read music off of a stand, which suggested spontaneity. Blake Mills supported Williams on some sort of stringed instrument on every song save for a cover of Woody Guthrie's "I Ain't Got No Home." He also doubled as the opening act.
The Dust Bowl-era protest song "I Ain't Got No Home" was timely given the economic state of the nation, but it also tied Williams to a history of Americana and folk which dates before songs were put to records.
Though her songs don't have the rebellious rabble rousing of Guthrie or the knowing sneer of Bob Dylan's protest songs, she is, like them, a story teller.
Friday's performance showed that powerful gift in abundance, both in her songs and in between them.
Setlist
World Without Tears
Jackson
Bus to Baton Rouge
Memphis Pearl
Blue
People Talkin'
Knowing
Kiss Like Your Kiss
Tryin' to Get to Heaven
Drunken Angel
Pineola
Crescent City
Well Well Well
Can't Let Go
Out of Touch
Don't Let the Devil Ride
Changed the Locks
Honey Bee
Encore
I Ain't Got No Home in This World
Blessed
Hard Time Killing Floor
Get Right With God
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