Q: What kind of a name is Dar?
A: Well Dar's real name is Dorothy (Snowden Williams) and as the story goes, one of her sisters couldn't pronounce her name properly and used to just call her Dar. Apparently the name stuck. She is not named after the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Q: When and where was Dar born?
A: She was born in Mount Kisco, NY, USA on April 19, 1967. She grew up in Chappaqua, NY.

Q: Where does Dar live?
A: She lives in Beacon, NY with her husband Michael, son Stephen, and daughter Taya.

Q.  Where can I write to Dar?
A: e-mail her through her management at  jessica@mctbold.com. You can also reach her via her official Facebook page.

Q: Does she have any siblings?
A: Dar is the youngest of three girls. Her sisters are Meredith and Julie.

Q: When is Dar's next CD coming out?
A: In the Time of the Gods was released in April 2012. It is the first release of all new material since Promised Land in 2008.

Q.  What is Dar's concert schedule?
A.  Go to the tour schedule page for up-to-date listings.

Q: What kind of guitar does Dar play?
A: For many years Dar played a very pretty, but quite large, Larivee. In early 2001, she bought and now primarily played a Huss & Dalton Custom OM. She often takes a Joan Baez limited edition Martin with her on bigger tours. In October 2005 she brought a fabulous new, and smaller, Huss and Dalton . . . pictured left. She now plays a Collings from Austin,
Texas  . . . pictured right.

She uses Martin SP and GHS Vintage Bronze strings.

Q: What about Dar's college years?
A: She went to Weslyan University in Connecticut. She majored in theatre and religion and claims to have been every religion at one point but Jewish because the "semester ended." Admits to being "really bad at Buddhism."

Q:  What songs are on Dar's early tapes?
A:  There were two tapes.  Here are the track listings
 1.   I Have No History -- 1990
Crossing the Field; How Do I Work; No More Troubles; No Revolution Here; Charlie Frye; I Have No History; Ireland; Terrarium
 2.   All My Heroes Are Dead -- 1991
 All My Heroes Are Dead; For Everyone; Stop Smoking; Mark Rothko Song; Calamity John; Flinty Kind of Woman; Anthem; Arrival; When It Gets That Way

Q:  Where can I find these tapes?
A: Scott Green for many years made them available but this is no longer the case and they are quite difficult to find or get. 

Q:  Is there a Dar songbook?
A: Yes there are two. There are two books, one published in 1999 which has 12 songs including Are You Out There, When I Was Boy and Iowa. The other is published in 2005 and includes songs through those on the  My Better Self CD. Both are published  by Hal Leonard (www.halleonard.com). ISBN 0-7935-9825-7. There is also a full collection of tabs on this site in the Play with Dar section.

Q:  Is Dar married?  Does she have a boyfriend, girlfriend, or what?
A:  Dar married a man named Michael from New York City over the May 4, 2002 weekend. He's a carpenter and is apparently terrified of flying! Dar says: One date, that's all it took : ) They have son, Stephen Gray Robinson, who was born on April 24, 2004, and a daughter Taya, adopted from and born in Ethiopia in 2009. 

Q:  What does Jane Siberry's album When I Was a Boy have to do with Dar's song of the same name?
A:  Not much -- Jane's album and Dar's song were written at about the same time, independent of each other.  Dar may be influenced by Jane's music, but she didn't steal the song title from her.

Q:  Is the narrator of "Iowa" male or female?
A:  It can be interpreted either way.  Dar has introduced the song both ways at concerts. The same answer goes for the same question regarding the "SUNY student with mousy brown hair" in "Southern California Wants to Be Western New York."

Q: Why are there two versions of the Honesty Room?
A: Dar originally released THR (herself?) on the Burning Field label.  Waterbug "took over" distribution and pasted their own stickers on the bar code, on the places where 1-800-PRIME-CD was listed as distributor and where Joyful Noise Productions in Northampton was listed for booking info. The second was redone/repackaged and released by Dar's current label Razor and Tie.

Q: Why are there two versions of The Green World
A: There is one version that was released into stores and another limited edition that was available for a short time through Dar's record company and at shows. The limited edition had an extra track on it, O Canada Girls, and fancy packaging with notes on the songs from Dar inside. The U.K. version of TGW includes O Canada Girls.

Q: What's a little-known fact about Dar?
A: She's allergic to dairy, so cut it out with those cheescakes at the concerts.

Urban" Folkish Artists (not very twangy)    ----------------------------------------    Ani DiFranco    Peter Mulvey    Richard Shindell    Lucy Kaplansky    Suzanne Vega    Tracy Chapman    Shawn Colvin    Indigo Girls    Joni Mitchell    The Nields    Lynn Miles    Catie Curtis    Pierce Pettis    John Gorka    Cheryl Wheeler    Susan Werner    Martina Sorbara    Patty Larkin    FRUiT    Joel Kroeker

Countryish-folk Artists (twangy)    -------------------------------    Nanci Griffith    Emmylou Harris    Gillian Welch    Patty Griffin    Fred Eaglesmith    Betty Elders    Townes Van Zandt    Kate Campbell    Rosanne Cash    Chris Smither    Richard Buckner    Mary Chapin Carpenter    Lucinda Williams    Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer

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Last updated May 12, 2012
darwilliams.net was created and is maintained by Gail J. Cohen
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