“I can sing better; I can’t play guitar better”: Lucinda Williams on how her stroke has affected her guitar playing

Revered singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams is dealing with the aftereffects of a stroke, yet that hasn’t deterred her from releasing her 16th studio album, World’s Gone Wrong – one that builds on the tradition of the protest music she grew up listening to.

One of her core albums was Bob Dylan's 1965 masterpiece, Highway 61 Revisited – a record that still serves as a source of inspiration, six decades later.

“I started reading about him and listening to other singer-songwriters of that era, like Joan Baez and Judy Collins,” the guitarist tells PBS NewsHour. “They were all writing these songs about social injustice and war. And I love those songs, and they spoke to me.”

Lucinda Williams channels earlier protest music era on new album - YouTube

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Williams felt compelled to write and record this collection of protest songs – a “battle cry” for a world on the edge. “[It's] kind of a commentary on things that have been going on, and just how it makes people feel, and it helped me to write about it. That's why I write songs. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I feel like the artist's role is to speak about what's going on.”

What was even more compelling was taking these songs on the road, even though she’s still recovering from a stroke in 2020 that left her unable to play the instrument that’s accompanied her throughout her career.

“I can sing better; I can’t play guitar better,” she said in an interview with The Guardian last year.

“But I’ve been blessed with two brilliant guitar players, Doug Pettibone, who’s been with me for a while, and a new one, Marc Ford, who was in the Black Crowes. It works really well, I can just concentrate on my singing. A lot of people have approached me and said that my singing was better now than it was before my stroke.”

Williams is set to join Heart on a North American tour, which kicks off on February 25 at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

And speaking of Heart, Nancy Wilson recently gave the full lowdown on her stolen (and recovered) baritone, which eventually made its debut at a Chappell Roan gig.