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With her clear sweet voice, observant lyrics and exquisitely sculpted melodies -- Dar Williams occupies a unique musical space, displaying an unparalleled harmony of both pop and singer-songwriter sensibilities. Over five progressively sophisticated albums that have sold in excess of 500,000 units, she has attracted a growing audience captivated by the uncompromising voice, engaging personality and keen wit that is Dar Williams.

From her start on the coffee-house circuit to her remarkable debut The Honesty Room to 2000's memorable The Green World, she has built a body of work establishing her as one of the most refreshing voices in music today. On her latest album, The Beauty of The Rain, Dar takes another step forward, showcasing a new, fuller sound, as well as her mastery at mapping out the emotional terrain of people whose lives are in transition. Recorded in a studio in NYC's Chelsea neighborhood, The Beauty of the Rain was produced by Steuart Lerman and Rob Hyman, and features guest appearances by a remarkable array of talent: Alison Krauss on vocals, Bela Fleck on banjo, John Popper manning the harmonica and backup vocals, Stefan Lessard (of Dave Matthews Band) on bass, John Medeski on keyboards, Chris Botti on trumpet, Cliff Eberhardt on vocals and Michael Kang (String Cheese Incident) on fiddle. The idea to bring in so many illustrious guests came from Dar, who decided to make her song arrangements richer and denser this time around. "It can be a little lonely sometimes being a girl with a guitar," she says. "I wanted to reach out into the world and see what else was going on."

 

 

 

 

 

 

" Seasons change, but Williams remains both ambitious and pleasingly plain-spoken… And importantly, she seems more at ease than ever .

" When Dar Williams sings 'Farewell to the Old Me' on her fine fifth studio album, the singer-songwriter could be waving goodbye to her coffeehouse period. The disc, which was largely inspired by her relocation from New England to New York City, finds Williams moving away from the spare, acoustic guitar-based folk of her earlier work to a more full-bodied, pop-flavored sound that should win her new fans .

" Dar Williams may be the best female singer/songwriter in America today .

" A new generation of pop-folk enthusiasts lauds her as one of the genre's central figures .