Dar Williams Biography

Dar Williams (born Dorothy Snowden Williams on April 19, 1967) is an American pop-folk singer-songwriter. Williams grew raised in Chappaqua, New York, and was born in Mount Kisco, New York. Due to a mispronunciation of "Dorothy" by one of her sisters, she was given the nickname "Dar." In 1990, Williams relocated to Boston to pursue a career in theatre. She worked as a stage manager for the Boston Opera Company for a year, but she also began writing songs, recording demo recordings, and taking vocal lessons with Jeannie Deva, who is now a Celebrity Voice and Performance Coach. Deva urged her to try her hand at playing at coffeehouses, but her stage shyness made her early years tough. Williams recorded her debut cassette-only album, "I Have No History," in 1990 at Oak Grove Studios in Malden, Massachusetts, with Deva producing and Rob Lehmann engineering. Williams recorded her second cassette-only album, "All My Heroes Are Dead," in 1991, with Deva as producer and Huck Bennert as an engineer. The majority of the album was recorded at Wellspring Sound in Newton, Massachusetts. Williams' song "Mark Rothko Song" was featured on this CD. This song's original version was subsequently included on her third album, "The Honesty Room." Williams' debut album, "The Honesty Room," was released on her own label, Burning Field Music. Nerissa and Katryna Nields, Max Cohen, and Gideon Freudmann were among the special guests. Waterbug Records, located in Chicago, distributed the record for a short time. Williams quickly negotiated a licensing and distribution agreement with Razor and Tie for Burning Field, and the album was released on that label in 1995, with two re-recorded additional tracks. The album went on to become one of the year's best-selling indie-folk albums. “Mortal City,” released in 1996 and likewise licensed and marketed by Razor and Tie, got a lot of attention, partly because it was released during her tour with folk icon Joan Baez. The Nields sisters and Freudmann, as well as famous folk singers John Prine, Cliff Eberhardt, and Lucy Kaplansky, all made cameos on the CD. Razor & Tie re-released “The Honesty Room” after its popularity. Williams' career had gained significant traction by the time of her third album, 1997's "End of the Summer," and the record sold well despite its genre and independent label status. Cry Cry Cry was established in 1998 by Williams, Richard Shindell, and Lucy Kaplansky as a tribute to some of their favorite folk singers. From 1998 to 2000, the band toured and produced an eponymous album of cover songs. She's since released six more studio albums on the Razor & Tie label, including “The Green World” in 2000, “The Beauty of the Rain” in 2003, “My Better Self” in 2005, “Promised Land” in 2008, “Many Great Companions” in 2010, and “In the Time of Gods” in 2012, as well as two live albums, “Out There Live” in 2001 and “Live at Bearsville Theater” in 2007.

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