Dar Williams

清新的民謠風格，氣質獨特的嗓音，富有韻味的歌詞，Dar Williams絕對是90年代的Folk代表人物。到目前為止，她的專輯在allmusic上全都獲得了4星或以上的評價。 Williams出生于紐約的Mount Kisco，但是在Chappaqua跟她的兩個姐姐Meredith和Julie一起長大。在一次采訪中，她把自己的父母描述為“崇尚自由、有愛心的人 ”，并且在自己的早期職業生涯中給予了自己巨大幫助。Williams在9歲是就開始彈吉他，2年后，她創作了自己的第一首歌。然而，年輕時期她更感興趣的是戲劇，并且在Wesleyan University主修戲劇和宗教。 Williams在1990年移居到了波士頓的Massachusetts，開始進一步發展自己的表演生涯。她在波士頓歌劇公司擔任了一年的舞臺經理，同時開始一邊寫歌、錄制Demo、上聲樂課。她的聲樂老師鼓勵她試試去咖啡屋進行現場表演，但是這個時期的波士頓民謠環境非常惡劣，以至于她在表演時受到了極大阻力，最致命的是，她還要和自己的怯場斗爭……1993年，Williams搬到了Northampton。 在Williams的早期職業生涯中，她因為Joan Baez而獲得了一定的知名度，因為后者錄制了一些她的歌（她還和Joan Baez在Baez的專輯《Ring Them Bells》里合作了二重唱）。很快，咖啡館、公共廣播以及互聯網上大量的歌迷讓Williams更加出名。 Williams的第一張專輯《The Honesty Room》是以自己的廠牌“Burning Field Music”發行的。其中邀請到的客串包括Nerissa 、Katryna Nields和Gideon Freudmann。沒過多久，Waterbug Record就找上門，收錄了這張專輯。1995年，Williams轉會到了Razor & Tie，她在這個廠牌下發行的第一張專輯——1996年的Mortal City受到了廣泛的關注，因為她和Joan Baez的巡演節目也收錄其中。這張專輯再次請到了Nields姐妹和Gideon Freudmann客串，并且受到了民謠藝術家John Prine、Cliff Eberhardt 和Lucy Kaplansky的關注。有了這次成功，Razor & Tie在Williams發行97年的專輯《End of The Summer》時重新發行了《The Honesty Room》。Williams的職業生涯也獲得了更大的發展，《End of The Summer》也因為它獨特的風格和獨立的廠牌，獲得了更高的評價。 1998年，Williams,、Richard Shindell 和Lucy Kaplansky組成了全新組合Cry Cry Cry，并以此向他們所敬仰的民謠藝術家致敬，這個樂隊以自己的名字發行了一張翻唱專輯，并且在1998年到2000年期間開始巡演。 Williams總共在Razor & Tie旗下發行了4張錄音室專輯（(The Green World (2000), The Beauty of the Rain (2003), My Better Self (2005), 和 Promised Land (2008))，還有一張現場（Out There Live (2001))。 Williams也借給她的才華和支持原因的各種，創立了Snowden環境信托基金，并參與了許多慈善演唱。她在Alcatraz的演唱會上與Baez和Indigo Girls一同表演，來支持囚犯人權團體Bread and Roses。 2002年5月4號，她和她大學時的好友Michael Robinson結婚，他們的兒子Stephen Gray Robinson，于04年4月24日出生。Williams目前居住在紐約的Hudson Highlands。 Dar Williams has become a major force on the New England folk scene. An idiosyncratic songwriter who writes folk songs from a unique, often insightful perspective, Williams takes pains to avoid the coy, and the quirky; her songwriting and performing style has been compared to that of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez but with a few acidic and, at times, hilarious twists. She was born in Mount Kisco, NY, but raised in Chappaqua the daughter of medical writer/editor Gray Williams and Marian Ferry, an active figure in Planned Parenthood. Her parents were educated at Yale and Vassar respectively. Raised in a decidedly liberal arts atmosphere, Williams began studying guitar at age nine and wrote her first song at eleven. In high school she was interested in athletics, but an ankle injury led her to audition for the musical Godspell. She became active in drama and by her senior year, after composing more music and writing plays, considered herself a playwright. She blames an Existential Crises at age 16 for her creativity and sharp sense of humor. In her sophomore year at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Williams spent a few months in Berkeley, CA, where she wrote songs and performed at the Starry Plough. After earning a B.A., she moved to Boston in 1990 to find a career in the arts where she dabbled in everything from directing plays and operas to performing. By the years end she was stage manager for the Opera Company of Boston. She also began taking voice lessons and it was her teacher, Jeannie Diva, who encouraged Williams to try the coffeehouse circuit. Williams tried hard, especially between late 1992 and early 1993, but things didnt pan out, so she abandoned Boston for the relaxed folksy, artsy atmosphere of Northhampton, MA, home of many prominent universities. Williams claims to draw much inspiration from her home community. Her love of the folk scene stems from her admiration of its integrity toward honesty and real emotion, and a creative freedom not found in more popular music genres. She loves trying to use traditional methods to express the realities and foibles of contemporary life. After several self-released cassettes, Williams made her proper debut in 1993 with the independent Honesty Room to considerable critical acclaim for both her beautiful soprano voice and her lovely, intriguing songs. She signed to Razor and Tie Records the following year who reissued the album. Her second album, Mortal City (1995) has been similarly praised, and was followed by 1997s End of the Summer. Williams performs on the college and coffeehouse circuit and has also been winning rave reviews for festival appearances, including the Newport Folk Festival and the Mississippi River Music Fest, St. Louis; she issued Cry, Cry, Cry in 1998. The Green World followed two years later. Over the next few years, Williams remained a major facet on the concert trail; she also recorded songs during this two year trek across America and Europe. She hooked with Alison Krauss, Bela Fleck, Dave Matthews Bands Stefan Lessard, trumpet player Chris Botti and others for the impressive The Beauty of Rain, which appeared in February 2003. My Better Self, Williams most personal set of her career yet, followed two years later.