Louisiana-born songwriter Victoria Williams may share an audience with the alt-country likes of Wilco and the Jayhawks, but she remains a true outsider artist with an uncategorizable musical vision. Musings of a Creekdipper, Williams' first studio LP since 1994's superb Loose, showcases her singular voice (a twangy soprano equivalent of Neil Young's high tenor), eclectic approach (touches of folk,...

In the brief story-song "Happy," Los Angeles-based Victoria Williams tells of a woman who has a dog named Happy. When she calls for it, all her neighbors think that she's shouting that she's happy and that she's "crazy, right out of her head." A lot of people will probably have the same reaction to Williams – who is married to singer-songwriter Peter Case – as she sings the praises of...

After dwelling in obscurity for years, Victoria Williams is finally getting her due. When Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams, the star-studded tribute album, was issued last year to popular and critical acclaim, many more people became aware of her as a songwriter than had ever heard of her as a recording artist. After that, Geffen reissued her wondrous, idiosyncratic 1987 debut,...