A friend recently wrote this letter in response to a Lucinda Williams ticket giveaway at Slim’s in San Francisco. (She won the tickets, in case you were wondering.) Anyone who knows and loves Lucinda will enjoy reading this.
From: “Leah”
Date: Sep 28, 2014 1:10 AM
Subject: Lucinda Williams Super Fan
To: info@slimspresents.comTo the Slims crew,
There is no musician that I love more religiously than Lucinda Williams. I’ve followed her from festival to festival and seen her over a dozen times in the last ten years. Part of why she is so amazing is that she’s an unpredictable perfectionist which can make for some memorable experiences.
Like the wind blowing away her sheet music at Austin City Limits, followed by a good old fashioned, only Lucinda can get away with it, meltdown.
Or the first time I heard her play Blessed at the Mountain Winery when she started, messed up, and started over — which meant she blew past the hard stop time and had the plug pulled on her performance.
Or the time that she told the audience that Vince Gill had just died. After hearing the gasps of the crowd, her bass player came over and gently reminded her that it was Vic Chesnutt not Vince Gill.
But my all time favorite moment was about eight years ago at the Fillmore. I had managed to work my way right up to the stage so she was only a few feet from me. She was wearing a plain white button up blouse and as she played, the strap of her guitar kept working one of the buttons loose. In between songs she’d button it up, and when the song was over it would be unbuttoned again. It was the kind of wardrobe irritation that folks deal with all the time… Not obvious, just annoying. And watching her work her way through the set, fixing it each time, humanized her to me. In that moment, I connected with the person that lives a life offstage, as opposed to just admiring the phenomenal artist and performer that makes music that I love.
I definitely want these tickets to see what I’m sure will be an amazing performance. But I also want them because I’d love another chance to have a moment like that.
Sincerely
Leah
