Victoria Williams is hot. With a desert home in Joshua Tree, California, it's no surprise that the arid heat would get to her, a sharp contrast to the lush green of her childhood in Louisiana. In the two years since her last album, Musings of a Creek Dipper, the self-described pioneer woman has been making the most of her adopted home, drilling wells, planting fruit trees and building a studio, where she recorded her stunning new album Water To Drink.
When Williams was told of her reduced recording budget, she forged ahead and make a live-off-the-floor album of jazz standards, before discovering that the quoted amount was for a producer, not the whole shebang; besides, having signed a lauded songwriter, her label wanted some originals. Water To Drink reflects the loose feel - and features three of the jazz tracks with strings from Beach Boys arranger Van Dyke Parks to help them fit in with the lusher originals - that Williams feels comfortable with, whether writing or recording. "Little Bird' is about a bluebird that I've known - the same one or its family - for ten years, and this song just fell out. When we cut it, we only played it together once. I like to catch the first time."
Also caught on tape was a little more "environment" than she was anticipating, in the form of a chirping cricket who found its way onto "Until the Real Thing Comes Along." It provides a natural link to one of Williams' heroes, Joni Mitchell - another folkie with a jazz bent, who had the same thing happen on her 1991 album Night Ride Home.
It's all part and parcel with a laid-back approach, since stress only contributes to Williams' ongoing battle with MS. "I'm much less of a perfectionist than I used to be. It's just another stress that I can really see putting me under, so I really try to let it go. Let go and let God,' as the old bumper sticker says."
When Williams was told of her reduced recording budget, she forged ahead and make a live-off-the-floor album of jazz standards, before discovering that the quoted amount was for a producer, not the whole shebang; besides, having signed a lauded songwriter, her label wanted some originals. Water To Drink reflects the loose feel - and features three of the jazz tracks with strings from Beach Boys arranger Van Dyke Parks to help them fit in with the lusher originals - that Williams feels comfortable with, whether writing or recording. "Little Bird' is about a bluebird that I've known - the same one or its family - for ten years, and this song just fell out. When we cut it, we only played it together once. I like to catch the first time."
Also caught on tape was a little more "environment" than she was anticipating, in the form of a chirping cricket who found its way onto "Until the Real Thing Comes Along." It provides a natural link to one of Williams' heroes, Joni Mitchell - another folkie with a jazz bent, who had the same thing happen on her 1991 album Night Ride Home.
It's all part and parcel with a laid-back approach, since stress only contributes to Williams' ongoing battle with MS. "I'm much less of a perfectionist than I used to be. It's just another stress that I can really see putting me under, so I really try to let it go. Let go and let God,' as the old bumper sticker says."
