Balance, roots, artistry at core of Williams’ music

Dar Williams' point of entry into the play-for-pay world of singing and songwriting was the vibrant folk-music scene of Boston.

Though her initial fan base was cultivated in that city's coffeehouses and intimate clubs rather than rock venues, she's never shied away from the occasional made-for-air-guitar pop hook.

For her seventh and latest album, 2008's "Promised Land," Williams turned the production reins over to Brad Wood, a guy who has earned record industry street cred for his work with nonfolk artists such as Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins and Pete Yorn.

As a result, certain segments of the music journalism community are declaring that the album's sound is proof that there is a new Dar, one who has left folk music behind for the more mass-appeal land of bouncy rock and pop.

Williams begs to differ.

"I do come across this propaganda that Dar Williams is going pop and trying to change her own sound," Williams said in a telephone interview from her New York state home. "My record label [Razor and Tie] is out of New York City, and they like the thought of adding a little extra electricity to the story.

"But I'm happy with evolution, and generally, people who listen with their own ears come to the conclusion that 'Promised Land' sounds like a Dar Williams record and are not sad that that is the case."

The album's 12 cuts address the typical Williams mix of personal and universal themes, some treated with a sensitive intelligence, others with a quirky humor.

In addition to co-writing credits from Gary Louris, Chris Collingwood, Rob Hyman and Lara Meyerrattken, the supporting cast includes Suzanne Vega, who adds a cool vocal assist on "Go to the Woods."

"Suzanne and I had done a fundraiser together with John Hiatt, and then I saw her at a Joni Mitchell tribute at Carnegie Hall. . . . When I was writing the song, she was sort of a muse in my mind. So I said, 'Please can you sit in on the song?' She was very accommodating. She came down and aced the harmony and melody so quickly that we changed it from her being on the track to it being a straightforward duet," Williams said.

Williams' fans who invest the old-fashioned way in a real CD instead of a digital download will be rewarded with an accompanying booklet that includes the work of 12 artists who also happen to be Williams' neighbors in New York's Hudson Valley.

"My son's preschool is 14 miles from our house. I would drive him to preschool and go to a café or gallery," she said. "This whole area of the Hudson Valley is filled with artists and people with their big gardens. A lot of the cafés I went to had paintings, and I would look at those as I was writing. So it was sort of like giving people a 3-D experience of what it was like writing this album."

Though she's juggling the responsibilities of being a wife, mother and musician, the 41-year-old Williams has not significantly reduced the number of days she's taking her music on the road.

"In a funny way, I'm touring the same amount, but it's a different way of balancing things and it's a good balancing game," she said. "We have a wonderful baby sitter, and we have grandmothers and school and Dad.

"I think I'm taking a leaf from the book of Jerry Berrigan [son of peace activist Philip Berrigan], whose parents were in jail for the first couple years. I'm not incarcerated, but I'm letting the village carry a lot of the weight. And I think it's a successful experiment."

A graduate of Connecticut's Wesleyan University, Williams has never limited her community involvement to singing and songwriting. Her current list of nonmusical passions could be described in one word: atypical.

"There was one point this year that I was signed up for more fundraisers than concerts. There's always a way to dig deeper here, whether it's helping a friend who's running for mayor or trying to get the school to go geothermal instead of using oil," she said. "But basically, I'm following, not leading.

"I'm involved with a fundraiser for Pete Seeger's legacy project, which is to develop river towns with job training for green jobs and turning those cities into green cities all along the Hudson River. And there are the new things, like rallying the local historical board to allow historic houses to have solar panels. I'm also thinking of doing a fundraiser to get less corrosive rock salt for the town.

"Maybe you're not happy you asked."