Lucinda Williams

Blessings Counted: Lucinda Williams

Now touring the country, the Grammy-winning singer opens up about Dylan, discipline, and developing a genre.

1 AMERICAN IDOL When I was 12, one of my dad's students came over with a copy of the new Bob Dylan album. Listening to it, I was completely blown away. My dad was a poet, so I grew up around writers. Dylan was the first artist to apply poetic lyrics to traditional folk rock. I decided then and there, I want to write songs like that.

2   SOLO SOUND When I first made a demo tape, the record companies didn't know what to do with me. Columbia passed on me because I was too country; Nashville passed because I was too rock. Nobody wanted to take a chance on me because my sound was unique. It wasn't until after I was signed that the Americana sound and the female singer/songwriter took off.

3 CRITICAL EAR I wrote my first song when I was about 13, but it took me years to gain confidence in my work. I started out playing other people's songs and filtering in my own a bit at a time. I have really high standards when it comes to my music. I won't settle for anything but a great song.

4 ARTISTIC ENGAGEMENT People assume that songwriters pull ideas only from their intertwining relationships with others—unrequited love, two people breaking up. For some reason, that's the easiest thing to write about. But I always knew, growing up, that someday I'd be in a committed relationship like my parents, and I'd still be making music. I'm engaged now and writing better than ever.

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Watch Williams play "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" in Austin, Texas.

Get a crash course in the Americana sound, and hear snippets from artists like Viktor Krauss, on this Weekend Edition episode from National Public Radio.

Keep track of Williams' nationwide tour, plus watch clips from her live performances on the road.