The Center for the Arts

Genre: Americana, Folk, Rock “My dad, as a poet, always told me to never censor myself – that’s one of his cardinal rules of creative writing,” says multiple-Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. “That became my motto which I’ve stuck by all these years.” Miller Williams’ advice clearly is born out on Lucinda’s powerful eighteenth studio album, the provocative World’s Gone Wrong. “I felt a sense of urgency in making this record,” she adds. Filled with gut-wrenching topical songs, the album’s ten tracks were written and recorded in a blast of collaborative creativity as Lucinda and her cowriters – primarily husband/manager/co-producer Tom Overby and guitarist Doug Pettibone – grappled with events transpiring during the spring of 2025. A whole other album had been in the works, but that “urgency” to address our current cataclysmic situation motivated Lucinda and company to cut World’s Gone Wrong in direct response. “Music is a powerful weapon,” she points out. “I want this record to make people aware, wake them up. I like to push people’s buttons.” And that’s what Lucinda fans have come to depend on over the past 45 years – since her sophomore effort comprised of originals, Happy Woman Blues, in 1980. With a back catalog of remarkable albums, including 1998’s game-changing Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, three Grammy awards and countless accolades, including Time Magazine naming her America’s Best Songwriter in 2001, Williams is one of our most revered artists, beloved for her singular vocals and extraordinary songs. And in these troubling times, we need the light she shines on World’s Gone Wrong more than ever before.