Over the course of three years Dar Williams has carved out an impressive place for herself on the contemporary music scene. From coffee houses to clubs to concert halls, her rise is an extraordinary example of the potential for the true independent spirit. While touring relentlessly and selling over 150,000 copies of her two critically acclaimed albums, The Honesty Room and Mortal City, she has established herself as one of one of the most unique and accessible singer-songwriters of her generation. But while her articulate, witty, and provocative songs have become Dar Williams' trademark, however, little could prepare music fans for the audacious sweep of her brand-new recording, End Of The Summer.

Without abandoning her traditional roots, Williams has evolved and grown on End Of The Summer, crafting a remarkably contemporary cycle of songs. From the complex rhythms and dazzling wordplay of "What Do You Hear In These Sounds" to the timelessly expressed suburban alienation and underlying hope of "Are You Out There" to the wry social commentary of "Teenagers, Kick Our Butts;" song to song, End Of The Summer is breathtaking in its lyrical scope and its musical assurance.

And these changes have occurred organically. "I write my songs like people make junk sculptures; little piece by little piece, a bit here, a chunk there," explains Williams. "I've spent a lot of the last three years on the road, listening to the radio, and I've heard a lot of pop and modern-rock music. So, as I was writing the songs for this record, those were a lot of the sounds I had in my head." Working again with producer Steven Miller (Suzanne Vega, Marianne Faithfull, Williams' Mortal City) Williams has created an evocative sonic landscape that dovetails perfectly with her kinetic narratives.

Williams and Miller have assembled an enviable support cast for End Of The Summer, including Bill Dillon (guitarist for Daniel Lanois, Peter Gabriel), multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan, k.d. lang), session-ace Jeff Golub (who has played with everyone from Hall and Oates to Rod Stewart), Mark Egan (Grammy-winning bassist for Pat Metheny and Sting), Shane Fontayne (Lone Justice, Bruce Springsteen) and Sammy Merendino, whose percussion enlivened Williams' 1996 word-of-mouth phenomenon "As Cool As I Am" as well as innumerable other projects.

The thirty-something slacker protagonist of "Party Generation" has a surreal birthday night wedded to a subtly ironic, classic-rock backbeat. The spiraling inner dialogue of "What Do You Hear In These Sounds" finds perfect counterpoint in its propulsive rhythms. The dying American-town vistas of "Bought and Sold" are evoked in the deft interplay of dobro and pedal steel. And the album's closer is an unexpected cover of The Kinks' "Better Things." "I like the idea of doing other people's songs," says Williams. "I've always loved The Kinks, so this seemed like a very fitting song to do."

Dar first emerged as a "buzz" artist in the folk-music chat rooms of the internet. Today there are multiple web pages about Dar, as well as the very active "Dar-list" (dar-list@world.std.com), an internet forum devoted exclusively to her music. Through non-stop touring and a powerful reputation as a live performer, Williams has built an impressive following on college campuses and listening rooms across the country.

End Of The Summer represents Dar Williams turning up the heat another notch; raising the stakes and delivering an album that enhances her reputation as an articulate, funny artist who knows few boundaries. Beginning in the fall of '97 (after several shows with this summer's Lilith Fair) Dar will embark on her first-ever band tour, bringing the sounds of Summer to cities everywhere.

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• Dar's Home Page

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