Lucinda Williams Announces New Book—“This Won’t Be a Sugar-Coated Memoir”

“For decades now, I’ve shared my innermost thoughts and experiences via my songs,” Americana trailblazer Lucinda Williams said in a statement. But now, it’s her time to put those experiences on the page.

“After years spent toying with the idea, I’ve decided to finally tell my stories more fully,” she explained, adding “But this won’t be a sugar-coated memoir; I want people to really see the truth of my life.”

Williams recently announced that her memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You, will be released on April 25, 2023. The book will take readers on a journey through Williams’ “traumatic childhood in the Deep South, her years of being overlooked in the music industry, and the stories that inspired her enduring songs,” a synopsis details.

Offering a raw and intimate look at the artist’s life, music, and legacy, Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You shines a spotlight on her “fighting spirit” which has led “to a hard-won success that spans seventeen Grammy nominations and a legacy as one of the greatest and most influential songwriters of our time.”

This summer saw Williams on tour through the U.S. with blues icon Bonnie Raitt. In September, she was among the list of musical greats performing at this year’s Americana Awards.

In 2020, the singer-songwriter released her fourteenth studio album, Good Souls Better Angels. “This album might not be for everybody,” she said of her honest, unfiltered, and in turn, empowering record in an interview with American Songwriter.

“That’s the first time I ever felt like that and that, in itself, is empowering,” she continued. “It felt like it did when I walked out of my high school and joined all these protestors who were marching. I had that feeling of triumph. Like, fuck it, I’m going to put this out.”

Photo by Erika Goldring/FilmMagic