Dar Williams

Dar Williams (2011)

Dar Williams (* 19th April 1967 in Mount Kisco , New York as Dorothy Snowden Williams ) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist .

Their style of music is usually referred to as folk or folk pop or, more recently (now almost always with a band ) also called Americana . She is also active as a writer and author .

life and career

Dar is actually a nickname that is reported to have originated as a result of an incorrect spelling of the first part of her first name Dorothy by one of her two older sisters, Meredith or Julie. The three girls grew under the care of their "free thinking and loving, but not religious" from the youngest as designated parents Gray Williams ( Yale graduate , a writer and editor with the Department of Medicine ) and Marian Ferry (a family planning - activist ) in Chappaqua in New York State. Dar was encouraged early on by her family to write songs. She started playing guitar at the age of nine and wrote her first song at the age of eleven . Even so, she was more interested in acting, drama and the stage in her youth and planned her first career in the direction of theater .

After graduating from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and religion , Williams moved to Boston , Massachusetts in 1990 , where she became stage manager of the Opera Company Of Boston relatively quickly . In her spare time she wrote new songs, recorded demo tapes and continued to work on her three octave voice through constant singing lessons . Her singing teacher Jeannie Diva also made sure that the young lady faced her first live audience, which she found in bars , clubs , pubs and cafes . Since she could barely control her stage fright , Williams found it extremely difficult at her first concert (event) - on top of that , the folk music scene in the city of Boston was considered quite intimidating and not exactly open-hearted to new, young talent. In 1993 she turned her back on Boston and moved to Northampton , Massachusetts.

After Williams recorded demo tapes in 1990 ( I Have No History ) and 1991 ( All My Heroes Are Dead ) and produced compact cassettes from them, for which their fans would dig deep into their pockets today (if only offered by their few owners would ...), she released her official debut album The Honesty Room in 1993 on her own label Burning Field Music . It was distributed by Waterbug Records shortly afterwards and re-released by Razor & Tie in 1995 with two additional songs.

A boost for the further music career was the friendship with Joan Baez , who recorded some of Williams' songs herself, and later performed live with Dar (on the Baez live CD Ring Them Bells they sang the Williams song You 're Aging Well ) and toured the USA and Europe, paving the way for her own popularity . Dar Williams has other notable collaborations with Richard Thompson , Bruce Cockburn , Ani DiFranco , Pete Seeger , the Indigo Girls and the Canadian Sarah McLachlan , for whom she appeared at the Lilith Fairs of 1997 and 1998.

Since May 4, 2002 Williams has been married to the carpenter Michael Robinson, whom she met briefly during her studies and who happened to meet again after the release of her CD The Green World . Both son Stephen Gray Robinson were born on April 24, 2004. The family of three currently lives in Rhinebeck on the Hudson River , New York State, and Williams also has an apartment in New York City .

Miscellaneous

Williams has also made a name for herself as a writer. The allergy sufferer , who is also affected by lactose intolerance , was co-author of the restaurant and shopping guide The Tofu Tollbooth (1998). With Amalee (2004) she wrote a family novella from the point of view of an eleven-year-old who has to grow up with her single father and four “ stepfathers ” (his chilling buddies ). A sequel to Amalee , entitled Lights, Camera, Amalee , was due to be released in July 2006.

In April and May 2006, Williams toured Europe with her band, playing only gigs in the Netherlands ( Utrecht and Venlo ) as well as in Great Britain and Ireland .

In May 2015 Williams gave her first and so far only concert in Germany , it took place in the Krefelder Kulturfabrik .

Peace activity : Williams wrote the song I Had No Right about an action by the ploughshare movement ( Daniel Berrigan and his brother Philip Berrigan ).

Discography (selection)

• The Honesty Room (first published in 1993; re-released in 1995)
• Mortal City (1996)
• End Of The Summer (1997)
• Cry Cry Cry (1998; as a band called Cry Cry Cry , with Richard Shindell and Lucy Kaplansky)
• The Green World (2000)
• Out There Live (2001)
• The Beauty Of The Rain (2003)
• My Better Self (2005)
• Live At Bearsville Theater (CD and DVD , 2007)
• Promised Land (2008)
• In the Time of Gods (2012)
• Emerald (2015)

Web links

Commons : Dar Williams  - Collection of Images

• Dar Williams Official Website
• Dar Williams at Discogs (English)
• Dar Williams at Allmusic (English)