GEOFF BENNETT: Lucinda Williams has been# making music for decades.

Now she's out## with a new album and embarking on a 20-city tour# across Europe and the U.S.

In it, she's speaking## and singing to this moment, calling it a battle# cry, finding grit and grace in a world on edge.

Our senior arts correspondent recently# sat down with her for our Art in Action## series exploring the intersection of art and# democracy as part of our Canvas coverage.

JEFFREY BROWN: Five years ago, Lucinda# Williams suffered a stroke.

She had to## learn to walk again and no longer plays# her guitar.

But here she is writing songs,## a new album out, and still performing.

How does she do it?

LUCINDA WILLIAMS, Musician:# Maybe a little stubbornness.## A little stubbornness never hurt anybody.

JEFFREY BROWN: Williams has long been known as a# musical storyteller, beloved by passionate fans## who followed her for decades and by other# leading singer-songwriters for her way with## words.

And the story she's telling now is the# title of her new album, "World's Gone Wrong."

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: It's kind of a commentary# on things that have been going on and just## how it makes people feel.

And it helped me# to write about it.

That's why I write songs.## Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I feel like the# artist's role is to speak about what's going on.

JEFFREY BROWN: Williams story goes# back to a peripatetic childhood,## most of it in town throughout the South,# as her father, the poet Miller Williams,## moved the family from place to# place for university teaching posts.

MILLER WILLIAMS, Poet: They will not forget.

JEFFREY BROWN: He would gain his# biggest audience reading a poem## written for Bill Clinton's# second inauguration in 1997.

Now 73, Lucinda recalls having her# 12-year-old mind blown in 1965,## when her father's friend brought over a new# album by Bob Dylan, "Highway 61 Revisited."

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: I started reading about him and# listening to other singer-songwriters from that## era, like Joan Baez and Judy Collins.# They were all writing these songs about## social injustice and anti-war.

And I# loved those songs and they spoke to me.

JEFFREY BROWN: And did you say# at some point, I want to do that?

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes?

LU.. JEFFREY BROWN: She would go on to success,# including 17 Grammy nominations and three wins,## with her unusual blend of rock, country,# blues and folk, telling stories of hard## living and heartbreak in such critically acclaimed# albums as 1998's "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road."

The song "Passionate Kisses," which she recorded# in 1989, was covered and made famous by Mary## Chapin Carpenter three years later.

Williams built# and kept her faithful following over many years.

MAN: Now here is Lucinda Williams.

JEFFREY BROWN: But all along the way,# she battled a music industry that she## felt wanted to put her into a box,# a marketable genre.

She refused.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: I just didn't think# in those terms.

They described it like I## fell in the cracks between country and rock,# because they have to have a market for you.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: Because it's a business.# That's why they call it .. JEFFREY BROWN: Hers is a story# of perseverance and resilience.## And more recently she's felt caught up# in the times, angry at actions by the## Trump administration, responding through# songs she hopes hearken back to an earlier## era of 1960s protest music.

One is called,# "We've Come Too Far to Turn Around."

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: When I was writing that, I# was thinking a lot about songs like "We Shall## Overcome."

That's a very powerful feeling# to stand with a whole bunch of people,## like-minded people, singing songs like that.

I wanted to feel that again.

If you watch# the news on TV or read the newspaper,## there's something every day that's upsetting.

JEFFREY BROWN: Well, people have different# ways of responding to that.

You're a... LUCINDA WILLIAMS: They're not# responding enough, I don't think.

JEFFREY BROWN: You don't think so.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: What I'd like# to see.. more demonstrations and all of# that, just speaking out more.

JEFFREY BROWN: On the new album, she# collaborates with renowned figures## like Norah Jones.

The two played# together recently on Jones' podcast.

Mavis Staples joined on a cover of Bob# Marley's "So Much Trouble in the World.

"## As for Williams' personal story of# resilience, she continues to deal## with the aftermath of her stroke, when# everything, she says, went haywire.

She## told us of promising new therapy she's undergoing# that's helping with what she calls her brain fog.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: That's# probably been the hardest part... JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: ... yes, is ju.. of that.

I just tried really hard to# focus and pay attention.

And I'm fine## when I go on stage and I know what# I'm supposed to do and all of that.

JEFFREY BROWN: So that's a lot to deal with.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: Yes.

See, I# told you I was stubborn, though.

JEFFREY BROWN: Lucinda Williams continues her tour## in Europe and later back in the U.S.# playing to old and new fans alike.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm# Jeffrey Brown in New York.