Over the years I’ve heard many singers comment about how to write good songs. Frequently it’s a variation on the theme of “live the life you want to write about.” In the case of Hudson Valley, NY, resident and folk music icon Dar Williams, that’s a life of traveling troubadour and social crusader. In addition to her long musical career she’s done everything from writing a book on where to find health food stores around the country to starting an environmental trust. Her songs are about what she sees in the world, and what she sees inspires her to do more than just document it in a lyric. She’s about to release her (by my count) 15th record, Hummingbird Highway, and that blurring of life and song is evident across its entirety.
The CD opens with the title track, a complex story of a child who loves their parent, but at the same time realizes all is not well because the humming comes from the rapidly beating wings, not the bird’s vocal chords. Avian creatures also feature in What Bird Did You See. It’s slightly melancholy ballad with Williams on acoustic guitar wondering which person the world is seeing, a hawk, a seagull, or perhaps a cardinal. Sacred Mountain is another complex story, this time of a monk reconciling his intended path of inward strength-building with the need to serve humanity.
Although, with good reason, she’s known for folk music, Williams shows she can stretch out in other genres. I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight is a Richard Thompson cover full of honky tonk stories set to a Waylon Jennings rhythm line. Put Coins On His Eyes is an old-timey/bluegrass number that feels appropriate this week of Labor Day when “we are gathered here today, by our union brother’s side.” Tu Sais Le Printemps is a fun bossa nova piece that would have been at home on many a 60’s movie soundtrack. Piano and trumpet interact to give it, as Williams herself notes, a frilly sound. Olive Tree could be a rock anthem, with its portrayal of the tree as the gathering place for conversations about hope and freedom since the time of the first Greek philosophers.
Frequently our reviews cover artists that are releasing an early album or have a regional fan base but haven’t broken out nationally. Dar Williams fits neither of those definitions. However, when you ask music fans about her, they often know her by reputation but less by any particular work. That’s a bit of a shame because she’s absolutely masterful at mixing multiple threads of commentary and musical styles into a single song with layers of messages and stories and acoustics. Hummingbird Highway showcases that talent.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.