Lucinda Williams Celebrated at BMI Troubadour Awards Dinner by Jason Isbell, Angel Olsen, More

On the eve of AmericanaFest in Nashville, Lucinda Williams was celebrated at BMI headquarters as as the recipient of the human rights organization's annual Troubadour Award show, where an invitation-only crowd heard Williams songs covered by Jason Isbell, Angel Olsen, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Amos Lee and Madeline Edwards.

Other artists have hailed Williams via taped congratulations, such as Robert Plant and Dwight Yoakam, who have called for giving Williams the "long-awaited" Lifetime Achievement Award. It might not have been so long: Williams is only the fourth artist to receive the Troubadour Prize since its inception in 2017, following in the footsteps of John Prine, John Hiatt and Robert Earl Keen.

Lucinda Williams in the audience at the 2022 BMI Troubadour Award Dinner in her honor on September 12, 2022 at the BMI in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Erika Goldring) ERIKA GOLDRING

"Thank you all for making me feel at home here in Nashville after leaving LA" , Williams said. accepting the award at a ceremony held in the oversized lobby of BMI's Music Row branch. "I really enjoyed it and made some really good friends and everyone was so supportive, and it's like being part of the family."

Playing with a house band, Isbell brought in Unit 400's lead co-guitarist, Sadler Vaden, to join him on the winner's sad "Drunken Angel," while Lee did another elegant song from Williams' catalog, "Little Angel, Little Brother." Olsen took "Fruits of My Labor," relative newcomer Edwards covered "Passionate Kisses" (a hit for Mary Chapin Carpenter), and Gibbons launched into a more spirited classic, "Changed the Locks." p>

Angel Olsen performs for BMI Troubadour Award winner Lucinda Williams on September 12, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Erika Goldring) ERIKA GOLDRING

Williams, who was helped onto the stage but appeared to be in good health as she continues to recovering from a 2020 stroke, had many words of appreciation, starting with effusive praise for his publicist, Jim Flammia - now there's a scarcity in a spe of acceptance...