Dar Williams

Produced by the Cantor Art Gallery in conjunction with exhibition “Always Be Around: Corita Kent, Community and Pedagogy” (Williams’ song “The Catonsville Nine refers to the trial of nine Catholic activists who protested the Vietnam War; Kent created the cover for a collection of etchings made by one of the activists).

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-90’s 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 non-stop with her first album, The Honesty Room, in 1994, she was invited by Joan Baez to tour in Europe and The United States.

Williams’ lyrics contain bouquets of optimism, delivered on melodies alternating between beguiling lightness and understated gravity. Her latest album, “I’ll Meet You Here,” is inspired by the notion that “Good and bad things happen, and it’s not necessarily a reward or indictment. I’ve just got to meet it. [. . .] Real happiness . . . can just be knowing you have the resilience to meet whatever comes to you. I will call that a good life.”