Everything about Victoria Williams totally explained
Victoria Williams (born
December 23,
1958) is an
American singer/
songwriter and musician, originally from
Shreveport, Louisiana, although she's resided in
Southern California throughout her musical career. She gained fame for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she's used to immerse the listener of her songs into a vivid feeling of small-town, rural Southern upbringing and life. She has the ability to detail events and characters that could (and might) be truly biographical. Her best-known songs include "
Crazy Mary", and "
Century Plant". Finding inspiration in nature, ("Weeds", "Century Plant," Why Look at the Moon"), everyday objects ("Shoes," "Frying Pan") and the unseen, as in "Holy Spirit". Wonder, delight and awe are the primary moods of her music.
In 1986 she worked with then husband
Peter Case on his debut album, following this
a year later with her own debut,
Happy Come Home, produced by
Anton Fier, with an accompanying 28 minute documentary by
D. A. Pennebaker. In 1990 she released
Swing the Statue. She also often appeared onstage and on record with the band
Giant Sand. In 1993 she acted in
Gus Van Sant's
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues (External Link
), who also made the video for Tarbelly and Featherfoot.
In 1993, Williams' life took a dramatic turn when she learned that she was suffering from
multiple sclerosis. In 1993, an array of artists from different
genres, including
Pearl Jam,
Lou Reed,
Maria McKee,
Soul Asylum,
Lucinda Williams and others, joined together to record some of Williams' songs for a tribute/benefit project called . This led to the creation of the
Sweet Relief Fund, a charity that aids professional musicians (of any stature) in need of health care. That year, Williams also released a new album herself, entitled
Loose. Pearl Jam had covered her song "Crazy Mary" for
Sweet Relief, however, Williams performed her own version of the song, and made a video that brought her closer to public notice and gained her more of a following after it ran on
MTV and
Vh1 in 1994, and is still played on both cable channels.
Also that year, Williams appeared on
Strong Hand of Love, a fund-raising tribute album to songwriter
Mark Heard, who had died in 1992. That December she participated in a
Christmas concert with
Jane Siberry,
Holly Cole,
Mary Margaret O'Hara and
Rebecca Jenkins, broadcast over
CBC Radio in
Canada and
National Public Radio in the
United States and subsequently released on CD as
Count Your Blessings.
In 1995, Williams released her first live album,
This Moment in Toronto With the Loose Band. Williams ended the 1990s with 1998's
Musings of a Creekdipper and followed it with
Water to Drink in 2000.
Her gift at breathing new life into standards, most often limited to her live concerts, was finally committed to record in 2002 on
Sings Some Ol' Songs where she covers classics such as "
Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "
My Funny Valentine" and "
Moon River".
Throughout her marriage to former
Jayhawk Mark Olson, the pair regularly toured and recorded together as The
Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, The Creekdippers, and Mark Olson and the Creekdippers, releasing a total of seven albums and one "best of" compilation.
In 2006, she appeared as a guest vocalist on Modern Folk and Blues Wednesday, the first solo album by
Bob Forrest of
Thelonious Monster.
Williams also plays in a band called The Thriftstore Allstars, a group of accomplished touring musicians who regularly play in
Joshua Tree, California. The Thriftstore Allstars play what their MySpace page calls "loose drunken square dance country gone electric fantasmo." The sound at live shows is somewhat jam-band at times because of the large number of musicians on stage at once (as many as 12) and the loose way in which the music is performed. The vibe is upbeat and positive and seems centered on good friends, good music, and even good food.
In 2007 she's played numerous shows with M. Ward.
Victoria features on track 'Bottom Dollar' on
Christopher Rees' album
Cautionary Tales (2007).
Victoria recorded Don't Let It Bring You Down on the 1989 album, and a cover of "The Puppy Song" for the 1995 Harry Nilsson tribute album For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson.
Discography
- Sings Some Ol' Songs (2002)
- Water To Drink (2000)
- Musings Of A Creek Dipper (1998)
- This Moment: In Toronto With the Loose Band (1995)
- I'll Make U Famous (1995)
- Your Heart's in Good Hands (1995)
- Legal Dope (1995)
- Loose (1994)
- Swing the Statue! (1990)
- Happy Come Home (1987)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Victoria Williams'.
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