Recorded over three sold-out shows during last year's highly
successful The Green World tour, Out There Live captures
the essence and excitement of Dar's live shows and charts the
growth of this progressively dynamic artist. When The Green
World was released to high praise from critics and fans alike
in Fall 2000, Dar hit the road for a sold-out national tour with
Steuart Smith (guitar-Shawn Colvin, Rosanne Cash), Gail Ann
Dorsey (bass-David Bowie, Gang of Four), Jeff Kazee
(keyboards-Southside Johnny), and Steve Holley (drums-Paul
McCartney, Joe Cocker).
The title, Out There Live, is taken from one of Dar's
distinctive songs, "Are You Out There?" The album offers
fresh, full-band interpretations of the title song plus 15 other
songs from all four of her albums (The Honesty Room, Mortal
City, End of the Summer, and The Green World), serving as
an amazing retrospective of Dar's career so far.
The 1990s saw Dar grow from local coffeehouse artist to a
powerhouse who easily packs venues like New York City's
Town Hall and Irving Plaza. While garnering accolades from
critics and appearing on shows like Late Night with Conan
O'Brien, Austin City Limits, and CBS Saturday Early Show, Dar
is perhaps best known for her extremely dedicated following
that grows with each album. Out There Live serves as a
must-have for all current Dar fans as well as a dazzling
introduction for those who are unfamiliar with one of the most
critically praised songwriters of her generation.
What Dar says about Out There Live:
I always thought about doing a live album after 4
albums because I thought that I would have
enough material then. I thought I would earn it
after 4. Then I kind of forgot about it and when I
was out with the band [for The Green World], I
called my manager and said, "We've really got to
tape this band. We're never going to get this
lucky again with such an amazing band."
When I was listening to the recordings afterwards,
I was actually pleasantly surprised. I just came
with very low expectations. I think whenever I
know I'm going to hear myself taped live, I just
brace myself. But I was amazed at the range of
what the last four albums have brought me. I
thought about when I first played the songs and
how the audiences responded and how different
things were now. It's been a pretty long and
varied road so I did reflect a lot on how far I'd
come.
I think there's a constant in terms of seeing your
audience grow, and then there's that one moment
when you realize you've come a long way.
Whenever I go places where I've played for 5
people in an ice cream parlor, that's where I
realize how much things have changed. Like in
Boston, I used to play at Passim's which holds
150 people and then I went to Sander's Theater,
which holds over a thousand. And when I was
there last, we played at the Orpheum. I see the
progression and yet, when you get to the place,
when there are lots of people screaming and
yelling and there are lots of them, there's nothing
like it. You hope that it still feels like a big surprise
when you finally get there because you want to
be happy about it when you get to that place that
you only dreamed of.
Dar Williams is currently scheduled to play select live dates in
October. Out There Live will be released on September 25,
2001.