Lucinda Williams

If it's true that you've gotta live the blues before you sing the blues, 50-something Lucinda Williams makes a strong case with her latest LP, Little Honey. On the record's final track, she lends her beautifully haggard voice to a country-rock version of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top." While, like AC/DC itself, the song has always come off pretty silly, Williams' version makes good ol' rock and roll sound as dead serious as a red-eye to Hades. And you know she's been there. Williams, who spent years in relative obscurity until 1998's critical and commercial breakthrough Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, is now an Americana icon. And she's reaching out to her fans. In an attempt to make up for high ticket prices during our economic shit storm, she's offering $5 to $7 credit at her merch table.