Dar Williams

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Ebru Yildiz

Dar Williams

media release:  Dar Williams’s lyrics contain bouquets of optimism, delivered on melodies alternating between beguiling lightness and understated gravity. Williams strongly believes that all of us possess our own power and ability to achieve, and she rejects the exceptionalism that encourages us to “admire that yonder star,” while making us feel small and insignificant; unworthy of shining on our own but hoping to catch enough distant light to inspire some tiny accomplishment. Williams has always been very interested in how to control our future and this album has to do with the fact that at some point, you just can’t.

Like everyone else, Williams spent 2020 in that state of non-control. She and longtime producer Stewart Lerman tracked most of the album, her 12th studio recording, in November of 2019. In late February of 2020, she cut the title tune in Woodstock with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey and Larry Campbell, who produced the track and played guitars, pedal steel and twangy baritone guitar. When told they had to postpone a mid-March mixing date, Campbell said he wasn’t feeling well anyway. Turns out he’d contracted a serious case of COVID-19. That was a clear sign that at some point, you have to meet life where it meets you …the common thread throughout these songs, the willingness to meet life as it arrives.

Williams has also released an all-new songwriting book called How to Write a Song That Matters (Hachette Books, 09/6/22). Intended for songwriters of all levels and backgrounds, the book combines tips, tools and encouragement that anyone can use to get started with or to keep momentum alive in their creative process. Dar Williams fans will also enjoy anecdotes and origin stories about songs they know and love. The book is available in paperback, digital reader format (kindle/nook) and audio book read by the author. More details are available at: https://bit.ly/dar-how-to-write-a-song-that-matters

“Even those with no musical experience or aspirations will appreciate the author’s illumination of the mechanics of songcraft, and she is consistently encouraging.” KIRKUS 

“The wisdom and the lessons she shares will illuminate not only the world of songwriters but anyone who seeks the sustenance of a creative life and practice." Mary Chapin Carpenter, Grammy Award Winning Songwriter

“Everything Dar Williams writes is inspired and generous, including this book! What a thrill to look under the hood of her songwriting process, understand how some of her iconic songs came to be, and feel in every chapter a giddy mix of practicality towards and reverence for the craft we love. This book will be a friend to many new and established songwriters!” Anais Mitchell, Hadestown Composer

How to Write a Song That Matters is an invaluable guide to writing music by a woman who knows how to do it and do it well: beloved singer-songwriter, Dar Williams. 

For years now, Williams has led songwriting retreats for musicians, from beginners to professionals, in which she elevates the process of songwriting over the assessment of the product. This book makes those intimate experiences accessible for songwriters across the globe, gifting them with the insight Williams has gleaned from her decades of experience. 

First, it encourages songwriters to find something that inspires them and then to follow that inspiration, letting the clues of those first few notes or lines lead their narrative. Soon, the initial rhythms, the unique sounds of the melody, and/or specific vocabulary emerge, giving birth to a "voice" or a "world" that the song can exist in. As the writer proceeds, Williams encourages them to ask themselves: "Where did I go? Where did I REALLY go? What happened? What REALLY happened? What am I bringing back?".

There are many other songwriting guides that hint to the reader that writing a "hit song" may be on the horizon if only the reader correctly follows the guide or program. In this book, however, Williams shows readers how to tap into their OWN creative process, using their psyches, their unique life experiences, and their muses to write the songs that they are meant to write. By focusing on the process of creating a song that matters, as opposed to producing a well-constructed "widget from a song factory," songwriters will be able to establish their own voice and use it to make meaningful music.

Perfect for music lovers of all sorts who want to write songs, How to Write a Song That Matters is a one-of-a-kind-book that readers will turn to for guidance time and time again.