* Dar Williams

5-6-2012
The New Yorker called her "one of America’s very best singer-songwriters." Her beautiful voice and evocative songs certainly drive home the point. But her razor sharp wit and unique sense of humor are also some of the best parts of her shows. She makes music that is both easy on the ears and gentle for the soul. Without much fanfare-albeit eleven studio albums, a critically acclaimed collaboration with Richard Shindell and Lucy Kaplansky (Cry Cry Cry), two books of young adult fiction, and countless tour dates, she has crept her way into the hearts and souls of a rather large audience. She has been described as a synthesis of the Indigo Girls, Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez; in fact, Joan Baez has performed with Dar Williams, as has Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin and Pete Seeger.
She just released her ninth studio album, "In The Time Of Gods", on Razor & Tie, and it's her first album of original material in four years. Produced by Kevin Killen and featuring special guests Shawn Colvin and Larry Campbell, it hosts a remarkable set of musicians including Charley Drayton, Gerry Leonard, and Rob Hyman. This inimitable collection of songs includes some of the richest and most evocative writing of Williams' career.
From an upstart neo-folkie to a seasoned artist who's also a community-involved wife, mother and "involved neighbor," her work has weathered the long-haul and "the songs do better for having that kind of weight to them." And throughout her 20 year career she’s remained fully capable of laughing at herself, as she expresses her observations and emotions in a consistently relatable way. And her material - heartfelt, soul-searching, witty and full of fascinating detail - is exactly why she the packed houses turn out again and again.