Dar Williams, a beloved and welcome presence on local stages, recently appeared at Rams Head on Stage for a relaxed exploration of her bright catalog. Steve Satzberg was there to photograph the show!
This article was adapted from a press release.
Dar Williams’ lyrics contain bouquets of optimism, delivered on melodies alternating between beguiling lightness and understated gravity. Her charm was on full display in performance at Rams Head on Stage on March 7.
Williams strongly believes that all of us possess our own power and ability to achieve, and she rejects the exceptionalism that encourages us to “admire that yonder star,” while making us feel small and insignificant; unworthy of shining on our own but hoping to catch enough distant light to inspire some tiny accomplishment. In 2021, Dar released I’ll Meet You Here, her most recent studio album. Williams has always been very interested in how to control our future and this album has to do with the fact that at some point, you just can’t.
Like everyone else, Williams spent 2020 in that state of non-control. She and longtime producer Stewart Lerman tracked most of the album, her 12th studio recording, in November of 2019. At Rams Head on Stage, Dar played two songs from the album — “Berkeley” and “Magical Thinking” — in the middle of the show.
Watch Dar Williams perform “Berkeley” live at Edwards Opera House on YouTube:
Dar Williams was always in the right place at the right time for the success she’s had over a 25+-year career. She rose out of the vibrant mid-’90s Boston scene, inspired by the eclectic influences of alt-rockers, Berklee jazz musicians, slam poets, and folk artists, like Patty Griffith, Melissa Ferrick, the Throwing Muses, Vance Gilbert, and Jonatha Brooke.
After a year of touring nonstop with her first album, The Honesty Room, in 1994, she was invited by Joan Baez to tour in Europe and The United States.“Good and bad things happen, and it’s not necessarily a reward or indictment. I’ve just got to meet it.” Williams said. “Like, I’m bringing my whole life to this moment; it will surprise me, challenge me, show me where I was wrong, even make a fool out of me, but my job is to show up and not take adversity personally. Real happiness doesn’t have to feel like Snoopy dancing with Woodstock; it can just be knowing you have the resilience to meet whatever comes to you. I will call that a good life.”
Here are some photos of Dar Williams at Rams Head on Stage on March 7, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Steve Satzberg.
