By all rights the name Victoria Williams should come trippingly off the lips as frequently as today's Fionas, McLachlans, Jewels and Paula Coles.| After all, she's been plugging away at her folksy aural landscapes for more than 10 years. But this natural-born storyteller is still better known for her ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis than her vivid lyrics and sweetly warbling vocals. Debilitating health setbacks notwithstanding, Williams has kept busy since her 1994 release, "Loose," buying a house in Joshua Tree, Calif., with husband and former Jayhawk Mark Olson, helping to install a home studio and joining last summer's Lilith Fair for 10 dates.

She was also preparing for her fourth release, Musings of a Creekdipper, a deeply personal album with a slightly darker hue than her previous efforts -- yet nonetheless retains Williams' childlike wonder of nature and her surroundings. Amid the hubbub of a hectic schedule that includes working on a children's record, collaborating on a musical and serving as a committee member for Sweet Relief, the foundation she started to help uninsured musicians pay medical bills, Williams took a moment to talk about trains, hummingbirds and the current wave of women songwriters.

Some people have mentioned this album has a sadder tone on it. What do you attribute that to?

I think, growing older and dealing with hardship and loss, and just growing.

What exactly does the creekdipper refer to?

That's just a reference to when I was going on tour in the summertime and I would go for a dip in the creek and whatever. I'd look at the map and find a pond, a creek, a river to swim in. It's a hope of mine that the rivers get cleaned up to the point where we can trust that to be a beneficial exercise.

One of the songs that's receiving attention is the "Train Song (Demise of the Caboose)."

I use the train as an example of people losing their manual jobs to the computer-generated information age. I suppose, too, I really do mourn that this country doesn't really have a good train system going to all points.

In the song "Humming Bird," you ask "Who will find your hummingbird?" Have you found yours?

There are so many hummingbirds around my house in Joshua Tree, it's amazing. And I've never seen this before, they stop. They stop and rest. I thought they didn't stop, ever. They stop and they're just so beautiful. As big as your thumb. They're so pretty. We planted all this wisteria around and they stop on the wire next to the wisteria.

Is your lifestyle as simple and refreshing as it seems?

Well, we are on the computer now. We have a Web site. We sell Mark's record from the computer. It's kind of a dream come true for me because before I got back on a record label I wanted to put out my own record -- this was before "Loose," before I got sick -- but then when I got sick, I didn't really have the energy to do it. So now Mark's doing it and it's kind of the best of both worlds because Mark's putting his record out from home and it really feels good because you're kind of in touch with whoever is ordering your record.

It seems a lot of women singer/songwriters in "modern rock" -- Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow --are being pushed for their sexy image. Where do you fit in?

Well, I think it's a sad fact that in this country ... look at what's going on right now with Clinton and that whole thing ... sex sells in this country. Everybody's amazed that his ratings are up. It's like, why should they be amazed? This has been the main selling point in this country for years -- sex. I think these gals are just wanting to sell their records. I guess that's why they're going for this. I've never gone that route. I guess I'm just not that way. I've always been more of a boy.

Do you think that boyish image hindered any mass appeal when you started out?

I think when I was starting out, just being a woman hindered it, and having a different type of voice. It was much rougher for women. Now women are having a heyday and people are realizing we all have different voices and everybody has something different to share, just like men.

How do you keep the positive attitude going when you have so many setbacks?

Gosh, well sometimes I don't keep it. Sometimes I have to get alone and get quiet and prayer always helps. Just say, 'Hey I give up. Whatever.' That's the shortest prayer. That's the only remedy I've ever had so far. Eventually, we're all going to die. Eventually, I'm going to die, so I may as well start talking to the maker now so I'll know what's going on.

MARLENE GOLDMAN