Williams was born in
Shreveport, Louisiana. In 1990, she released
Swing the Statue. She also often appeared onstage and on record with the band
Giant Sand. In 1993, she acted in
Gus Van Sant's
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Van Sant also made the video for "Tarbelly and Featherfoot". In early 1992, as Williams' career was beginning to take off, she was diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis. Because she did not have
health insurance, an array of artists, including
Pearl Jam,
Lou Reed,
Maria McKee,
Dave Pirner, and
Lucinda Williams, recorded some of Williams' songs on CD for a benefit project called
Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams. This led to the creation of the
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, a charity that aids professional musicians in need of health care. That year, Williams also released a new album, titled
Loose. A second album, covering the songs of
Vic Chesnutt, was recorded for the Sweet Relief Fund in 1996 under the title
Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, and Williams performed a duet with Chesnutt on the album. Also that year, Williams appeared on
Strong Hand of Love, a fund-raising
tribute album to songwriter
Mark Heard, who had died in 1992. That December she participated in a
Christmas concert with
Jane Siberry,
Holly Cole,
Mary Margaret O'Hara and
Rebecca Jenkins, broadcast over
CBC Radio in Canada and
National Public Radio in the United States and subsequently released on CD as
Count Your Blessings. In 1995, Williams released her first live album,
This Moment in Toronto with the Loose Band. Williams ended the 1990s with an appearance on
Jim White's
Wrong Eyed Jesus (1997), a duet with
Robert Deeble ("Rock a Bye") on
Days Like These (1997), and 1998's
Musings of a Creek Dipper. She followed with
Water to Drink, in 2000, coproduced with
JC Hopkins. She also appeared in the film
Victoria Williams – Happy Come Home, by
D. A. Pennebaker and
Chris Hegedus. Williams recorded "
Since I've Laid My Burden Down" for the compilation album
Avalon Blues: A Tribute To Mississippi John Hurt in 2001. That same year her song "You Are Loved" was included on The Oxford American Southern Music CD #5 . In 2002, she issued an album of standards recorded during the sessions for her earlier records. ''
Sings Some Ol' Songs'' includes classics such as "
Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "
My Funny Valentine" and "
Moon River". That year, Williams was also a judge for the second annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. Throughout her marriage to
Jayhawks member
Mark Olson, the pair regularly toured and recorded together as The
Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, The Creekdippers, and Mark Olson and the Creekdippers, releasing a total of seven albums and one "best of" compilation. "Miss Williams' Guitar", a song on the Jayhawks' 1995 album
Tomorrow the Green Grass, was written for her by Olson and bandmate
Gary Louris. Olson and Williams divorced in 2006 which also led to the dissolution of their musical partnership. In 2006, she performed on fellow Creekdipper
David Wolfenberger's album
Portrait of Narcissus and even painted the portrait of Wolfenberger featured on the cover. In that same year, she also appeared as a guest vocalist on
Modern Folk and Blues Wednesday, the first solo album by
Bob Forrest of
Thelonious Monster. Williams also plays in a band called The Thriftstore Allstars, a group of accomplished touring musicians who regularly play in
Joshua Tree, California. The Thriftstore Allstars play what their MySpace page calls "loose drunken square dance country gone electric fantasmo". In 2006, Williams was ranked No. 89 on
Paste magazine's list of the Top 100 Living Songwriters. The description stated: "Louisiana-born Victoria Williams' music paints impressionistic, personal portraits of nature ("Century Plant"), of the spiritual ("Holy Spirit") and of common folk ("Crazy Mary"). Her songs—as distinctive as her high vibrato—dip heavily into the musical palettes of country, folk, rock, gospel and jazz. Although her debut album,
Happy Come Home was released in 1987, Williams was largely overlooked until artists like
Soul Asylum and
Pearl Jam recorded her tunes for the 1993 Sweet Relief tribute/benefit CD, which helped pay medical bills in her battle against multiple sclerosis." In 2007, she played numerous shows with M. Ward and is featured on the track "Bottom Dollar" on
Christopher Rees' album
Cautionary Tales (2007). In early 2009, Williams commenced the recording of a new album of original material in Tucson with
Isobel Campbell as
record producer. In May 2009, Williams and Olson reunited with fellow Creekdipper Mike Russell for a one-off performance at an exhibition opening being staged at the True World Gallery in Joshua Tree, California. In July 2009, Williams embarked on a tour of Australia and New Zealand with Vic Chesnutt. The tour would be cut short when Chesnutt, who had struggled with depression, died of an overdose of muscle relaxants on December 25, 2009. In the fall of 2010, Williams toured Spain and Switzerland with Simone White, and in late 2011 she returned to the studio to record another vocal for
Robert Deeble for the album Heart Like Feathers which was released in February 2012. In December 2015, Williams had a
seizure, injuring her back and shoulder. Although she was expected to recover fully, the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund was seeking donations to help cover the associated costs, which her medical insurance again would not cover. ==Discography==