Lucinda Williams: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

WHEN LUCINDA WILLIAMS FIRST CAME to London nearly 15 years ago to promote her eponymous third album, she was the most painfully nervous and self-conscious performer I had ever seen. The record was a standout of a bleak year (1988) — but live, with only an acoustic guitar for company, Lucinda was still shaping her own identity from the bare bones of the Delta blues and literary lore she was raised on.