Lucinda Williams

"Well, I guess we'll have to edit that one out," Lucinda Williams chuckles nervously after a powerful version of "The Night's Too Long," plagued by minor technical issues. Though shy for her first Austin City Limits appearance, hints of a perfectionist abound. More than that, the infamous fiery charge in Williams's songs was as commanding then as it is now. There's something hard behind her timid eyes throughout this show, which draws heavily from her self-titled third album, released in 1988. Raw with age now, the searching urgency of "I Just Wanted to See You So Bad" and the new "Something About What Happens When We Talk" is revelatory. Throw in memorable renditions of "Price to Pay" and "Changed the Locks" and even questionable '80s fashions can't quell the timelessness of this essential document.