Lucinda Williams is one of America's great storytellers. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road gave her breakthrough success in 1998, but for almost two decades her songs have tackled love, death and every shade of heartbreak in-between, while her woozy, world-weary country has taken on colourful hues of folk, blues, gospel and fiery rock.

Williams' latest album, West, deals with typically weighty topics - the loss of her mother and a nasty break-up. Grasping her acoustic guitar, she unspools the slow-dripping desperation of Are You Alright. The contemplative mood continues with Fruits of My Labour, until Williams' warm, rounded voice suddenly turns painfully raw, like an angel choking on a cigarette.

Batting away hecklers demanding old favourites, Williams' two-hour set travels in what she calls "little waves and cycles", from the hillbilly rap of Righteously to 1950s-style ballad Still I Long for Your Kiss and a whispery take on the Doors' Riders on the Storm, featuring Chet Lyster from Eels on keyboard and guitar. But Williams allows too many of her songs to meander (she uses one of the many guitar solos to add a little lipstick) and wanders too far from stark roots.

If the styles were not eclectic enough, Williams causes more ripples between songs. After mentioning the many luminaries, including Emmylou Harris, who have covered her songs, she expounds on her love of "cock rock" and punk, tells tales of being inspired by bumper car stickers.

She reveals that during this tour, two of the crew have lost close friends to suicide. Williams talks with honesty and anger about a similar loss she has experienced. "A friend said he was too sensitive for this world. Bullshit. I'm too sensitive for this world," she says. As intoxicating as her vulnerability is, she might just be right.

· At Tripod, Dublin (00 3531 662 4305), tonight.