Lucinda Williams, whose musical style defies easy categorization, recorded her first album of original songs in 1980, supported by a six-member band. Her songs are a mix of traditional and alternative country, folk, and blues that reflect her Louisiana roots. The Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau gave Happy Woman Blues an “A–” and described Williams as a “guileless throwback to the days of the acoustic blues mamas” who “means what she says and says what she means.”