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The songwriter blossoms
With success, singer-songwriter Dar Williams is finding the freedom to relax and be herself.
By BRIAN ORLOFF
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2001
Dar Williams is not content to settle into the boundaries of the folk music genre. Granted, she got her big break on the Northeast coffee house circuit. And, yes, she writes the occasional politically themed song. Williams even plays guitar.
Still, she insists, "I'm a little afraid of participating in that name game," she says by telephone from New Hampshire, "because I am curious to find out who I am."
Williams toured several years ago with Lilith Fair, the summer music festival organized by Sarah McLachlan to showcase a wide variety of female songwriters. The press began lumping all the artists together under the banner of folky women's music. Lilith Fair "was really about showing diversity," Williams says. "I find it to be incredibly defining, the complacency of the media that basically described it was insipid."
The festival "was the flower of a revolution that has been 30 years in the making, women being in music. It was the blossom."
Williams' courageous, brilliantly crafted music speaks for itself. On her latest album, The Green World, she expands her acoustic sound by incorporating arrangements with a full band. However, at Tampa Theatre, Williams will perform solo. She says she likes the freedom of going it alone. She likes being able to sing and speak off the cuff to fans, giving a glimpse of her more light-hearted, nutty nature. Williams aspires to let more of that humor into her music.
"I always thought that if anyone could work the word 'vasectomy' into a song with any grace, then they would really be the consummate songwriter," Williams says, laughing. "But I've never had occasion to."
What other words would Williams like to get into song?
"I would say the expression 'I love you' would be an interesting thing," Williams says. "I would be really interested to write a love song, a mushy love song. I can't write one that doesn't have a few existential spikes in it."
But it's all about storytelling.
"I love stories," she says. "I just love storytelling. I believe that we really need powerful stories to identify ourselves, to remind ourselves, recognize ourselves and find the next step."
Onstage, Williams is in her element, with a show that includes fine storytelling, singing and, yes, now, a little sass.
"I probably always had chutzpah, but it's taken a long time to uncover it," Williams says. "It's definitely something I champion other people finding.
And, Tampa, Williams adds, is always a receptive audience. "It's a really motivated crowd," Williams says, "It's just one of the only areas which brings acoustic music in with any regularity. There's this sense of community spirit when I play there, which is unique."
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Preview: Dar Williams with Jess Klein, Tuesday at 8 p.m., Tampa Theater, 711 Franklin St., Tampa. $18 advance, $22 at the door. (813) 238-8001.
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