By Sean Phipps
Chattanooga, TN – Thursday's free lunch will feature Dar Williams with several special guests. Her new album, The Beauty of the Rain hits stores on Feb. 18 with a supporting cast of musical talent to back her up.
Such artists as John Popper (Blues Traveler), and Bela Fleck appear as guests on the album. Alison Krauss and Cliff Eberhardt also makes an appearance as a backup singers on Richard Manuel's "Whispering Pines." Also appearing are Stefan Lessard (Dave Matthews Band), and Michael Kang (String Cheese Incident) on the fiddle.
"It can be a little lonely being a girl with a guitar," Williams told (Razor and Tie) in a recent interview. "I wanted to reach out into the world and see what else was going on."
The songs on a album display a new level of maturity for Williams. Especially in songs like "The World's not Falling Apart" which took almost two years to write, according to Razor and Tie records.
Dar sings:
The closest thing to God that I have heard/
Is when I knew I did not have the final word/
You say the world has lost its love/
I say embrace what its made of
Williams has the ability to take intense personal experiences and turn them into beautiful songs. A feat not easily accomplished by most artists. Other songs like "I Saw a Bird Fly Away," and "They Beauty of the Rain" also stand out on an album as.
The producers, Steuart Lerman and Rob Hymen were also collaborators on Dar's 4th studio album, The Green World. However, The Beauty of the Rain is different, as it sounds as modern as anything heard on mainstream radio.
"I wanted to convey the idea that the world isn't coming apart, but people are communicating more," said Williams (Razor and Tie). "Where the Green World was a meditation on the big picture The Beauty of the Rain is more tied to an urban landscape."
For more information on The Beauty of The Rain, visit DarWilliams.com