Well, here we are at the final track of Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20. I know it’s been a tough slog for some of my readers.

Lucinda Williams, like Bob Dylan, is an acquired taste. She reminds me a lot of Dylan, especially in recent years, as her work has moved more towards country blues and even more towards “I don’t give a damn.” She’s not after radio play or big sales — she makes the music she’s moved to make. And her most loyal fans are moved right along with her.

Album closer ‘Faith and Grace’ was recorded in a single live take with Jamaican session musicians who played alongside Bob Marley back in the day. This recording (which I haven’t listened to yet) was the first and only time this collection of musicians played together. The 20-minute jam was edited down to just under 13 minutes in order to fit the track on Disc Two of the album.

Let’s give it a whirl.

Great music, as expected, but a bit of a letdown for me as an album closer. I think the previous track would have been a better choice. But I’m not a fan of slow jams in general, so it’s not surprising that I’d view it this way.

As for my overall album impressions… it’s a beautiful piece of work, slow and mournful and perfectly evocative of the time and place it’s chronicling. I never know how I really feel about an album until I’ve heard it a few times, so I can’t say too much after just one listen, but my gut tells me this will settle in somewhere in the top half of Williams’ discography for me.

Thanks for taking the journey with me, however reluctantly!