DAR WILLIAMS* - SINGER-SONGWRITER
Dar Williams (full name Dorothy Snowden Williams, born 1967) is an American singer-songwriter specializing in what can be described as "folk-pop".
*Dar Williams is a known humanist as well as a fabulous musician who received the Humanist Album of the Year award at the Secular Student Alliance eMpirical conference in March of 2007. (Williams has vacillated all over the place about her "God-belief"; it would seem that she was a long-time atheist, then Buddhist, who "found God", but eschews dogma and churches.)
She frequents folk festivals across the nation, such as the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale, New York. She has also toured with the likes of Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Griffin, Ani DiFranco, The Nields, Shawn Colvin, Girlyman, Joan Baez, and Catie Curtis.
Williams began playing the guitar at age nine and wrote her first song two years later. However, she was far more interested in drama at the time, and majored in theater and religion at Wesleyan University.
Williams moved to Boston, Massachusetts in 1990 to further explore a career in theater. She worked for a year as stage manager of the Opera Company of Boston,[1] but on the side began to write songs, record demo tapes, and take voice lessons. Her voice teacher pushed her to try her hand at performing at coffeehouses, but due to the intimidating nature of the Boston folk music scene, as well as her own battles with stage fright, things got off to a rocky start. In 1993 Williams moved to Northampton, Massachusetts.
Early in Williams's music career, she opened for Joan Baez, who would make her relatively well known by recording some of her songs. Her growing popularity has since relied heavily on community coffeehouses, public radio, and an extensive fan base on the Internet. In recent years, she has performed on nationwide television shows such as Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
DA REV'S FAVORITE DAR SONG - "THE CHRISTIANS & THE PAGANS"
Amber called her uncle, said "We're up here for the holiday,
Jane and I were having Solstice, now we need a place to stay."
And her Christ-loving uncle watched his wife hang Mary on a tree,
He watched his son hang candy canes all made with red dye number three.
He told his niece, "It's Christmas Eve, I know our life is not your
style,"
She said, "Christmas is like Solstice, and we miss you and it's been
awhile,"
So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
And just before the meal was served, hands were held and prayers were
said,
Sending hope for peace on earth to all their gods and goddesses.
The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal had gone without a
hitch,
Till Timmy turned to Amber and said, "Is it true that you're a witch?"
His mom jumped up and said, "The pies are burning," and she hit the
kitchen,
And it was Jane who spoke, she said, "It's true, your cousin's not a
Christian,"
"But we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we
share,
And you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere,"
So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
And where does magic come from? I think magic's in the learning,
'Cause now when Christians sit with Pagans only pumpkin pies are
burning.
When Amber tried to do the dishes, her aunt said, "Really, no, don't
bother."
Amber's uncle saw how Amber looked like Tim and like her father.
He thought about his brother, how they hadn't spoken in a year,
He thought he'd call him up and say, "It's Christmas and your daughter's
here."
He thought of fathers, sons and brothers, saw his own son tug his
sleeve, saying,
"Can I be a Pagan?" Dad said, "We'll discuss it when they leave."
So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
Lighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old, and
Making sense of history and drawing warmth out of the cold.
