Williams brings guitar, soul to Buskirk-Chumley show

Bloomington native Travis Jacobs wasn’t introduced to singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams through a friend or an album review.

“I didn’t fall in love with Lucinda until I started driving trucks,” Jacobs said from the lobby of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. “She was all over my SIRIUS satellite radio.”

Jacobs was at the Buskirk at 9 p.m. Friday to see Williams as she made a stop in Bloomington on her tour to promote her latest album, “Blessed.”

Born and bred in Louisiana, Williams began playing guitar at age 12.

She has produced 11 studio albums and has won three Grammys.

“Her songwriting is so soulful and original,” Jacobs said. “The amount of heart in her lyrics is so unlike anything else on the radio.”

As the audience of the sold-out show settled into the seats, some members talked in quiet confusion as to why there was only one acoustic guitar and an amp on the stage instead of a full band.

While Williams is known to have the ability to produce both soothing folk melodies and loud rock ’n’ roll tunes, patrons quickly learned that they were in for a much slower-paced show.

“I have never had much luck cutting my songs in Nashville,” Williams said during her set. “Most of the time record companies thought my lyrics were too vulgar.”

Opening the set with some of her saddest tunes and accompanying herself on the guitar, Williams set the tone for an evening that would be both emotional and intimate.

“This room has a great sound,” Williams said after the first few numbers. This remark was met with cheers and clapping from the audience, most of whom were longtime patrons of the theater.

As the night went on, Williams continued to play many of her heartfelt songs but also found space to cover more well-known country tunes. By the time she played Blind Willie Johnson’s “Motherless Children,” many audience members were humming along.

Until the encore, Williams was unaccompanied on stage;  each song she played offered a different story for her to tell.

This type of mellow, intimate evening was just what audience member Jim Bradley said he wanted to have.

“I was just looking for a nice evening out with friends to hear some good music, and that’s exactly what I got,” Bradley said.