Williams’ Style Simple but True

There should be a special preserve for rare birds like Lucinda Williams, whose lack of showy plumage sinks them in the mating dance of the music marketplace but whose sweet, simple, profound song is tuned to the essence of greatness far more than the Jewelbird et al.

As it is, this Louisiana-hatched, Nashville-roosted talent keeps losing habitat. Since her artistry reached maturity in 1988, Williams has managed to produce just two independent-label albums, both for companies that folded. During her show Monday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, Williams wryly but tartly alluded to business difficulties that have kept a completed new album from appearing.

She did what she could, playing at least an album’s worth of unreleased songs, all immediately striking. Williams’ hybrid of country, folk, blues and rock is deceivingly simple. There is remarkable texture in her straightforward lyrics, and her nasal, unadorned but attractive Southern twang conjures a complex weave of ardor and stoicism.

“Is it too much to demand/I want a full house and a rock ‘n’ roll band,” Williams sang on “Passionate Kisses,” the song that has kept her solvent thanks to Mary Chapin Carpenter’s hit version. On Monday, she had half a house and two-thirds of a rock ‘n’ roll band. No matter; leaving out the drummer ensured that we heard every word and note, making this a great night for scouting that rare but endangered species, the inspired, uncompromising and unpretentious singer-songwriter.

* Lucinda Williams plays tonight at 8 at the Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, $15. (310) 276-6168.