Dar Williams (USA)

Dar Williams

Dar Williams describes modern life as “a highway, filled with deep, exotic colors and beautiful delicate things as well as the perils that come from moving so fast.” Her 13th album, Hummingbird Highway, due September 12 on Righteous Babe Records, celebrates these vivid glimpses she gathers as a touring musician. Williams, drawing from her background as a playwright, fills the album with nuanced characters whose stories unfold in just a few minutes. The title track is sung from the perspective of a child speaking to a parent who is often away and sometimes struggling; the child treasures blooming columbines and cinnamon bark, while imagining “pirates” in the parent’s turbulent world. Williams reflects that these pirates can be both internal and external, but the child always roots for joy.

Since 2013, Williams has led songwriting workshops, encouraging students to let songs discover their own direction. This approach inspired “Tu Sais Le Printemps,” a light, bossa nova single, written in the midst of dark headlines. Support from fellow retreat leader Beth Nielsen Chapman reinforced Williams’ trust in following her creative instincts.

The album’s collaborative spirit is evident, with Ken Rich producing most tracks and Dave Chalfant contributing two. Songs like “Put the Coins on His Eyes” feature Daisy Mayhem’s energetic roots-rock, while Bryn Roberts supplies hooks and sonic landscapes. There’s rowdy “studio magic” on the Richard Thompson cover “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight,” and meditative depth in “Sacred Mountain,” centering a Buddhist narrator navigating activism and contemplation.

Williams sees how people connect, chronicled in her book What I Found in a Thousand Towns. She celebrates local festivals, strong unions, and community activism. Coming home, she finds meaning in everyday civic life—organizing group sings, thrift sales, and serving on community boards. Hummingbird Highway ultimately explores perspective, resilience, and finding beauty amid the unpredictable.

‘Few are as familiar with the soul of the music industry as Dar Williams…(she)… is still pressing on the gas of her creativity... As far as her upcoming album goes, we can expect more of Williams’ clever lyrical arrangements.’ – AMERICAN SONGWRITER August, 2021

‘As usual, Williams evades schmaltz; although it finds its positive streak, “Today and Every Day” is based around present-day realities, facing climate change head-on from its opening moments. Still, its music inspires from the moment one sprightly flourish throws the song’s curtains open.’ – POP MATTERS August, 2021

‘If you haven’t heard Dar Williams’ name before, it’s probably because you’re not a professional songwriter — in that sphere, she’s been a legend for decades now. Among her other great attributes, she has that most elusive of gifts: the ability to write a complicated song that sounds simple…Yet another quiet triumph from one of our finest songwriting talents.’ – CD HOT LIST
(recommended releases for libraries) August, 2021

‘The album unfolds like one big song and finds just the right places to land a punch and plant a kiss.’ - COPPER MAGAZINE September, 2021

plus support Heather Maloney

Massachusetts-based 'writer song-singer' Heather Maloney found music in the midst of three years at a meditation center, honing a sound moored in days of silent reflection and reverence for storytellers like Joni, Rilke, Ken Burns, and the anonymous authors of Zen parables. While she eventually traded the quiet, structured life of a yogi for the kinetic life of a touring musician, the core of her songwriting has remained centered around same curiosity about our inner world and the desire to articulate it through storytelling.

With over 1,000 international shows and 8 studio albums under her belt, she is now on the brink of releasing her 9th and most personal record to date, “Exploding Star” (out January 31, 2025). Written in the wake of her father’s death, “Exploding Star” is a collection of 12 songs that Maloney originally had no intentions of recording or releasing until some of her closest friends and family convinced her otherwise.

'Lyrics that cut to the chase' – Huffington Post

'Utterly gorgeous – visceral.' – Val Haller, New York Times

'Her not-so-secret weapon is that voice' – Boston Globe