BY VANESSA SALVIA
G R A N D
Dar Williams performs
at the McDonald on
Saturday.
F I N A L E
T H U R S D AY, M AY
J O N N A K A M AT S U , P I A N O
New Directions
D
ar Williams is a name not easily for-
gotten, especially after you’ve made
friends with her unique folk songs.
Williams was raised in a liberal, educated
home in Chappaqua, New York and began
studying guitar at age 9. She wrote her first
song at age 11. In high school, an ankle injury
pushed her away from athletics and toward
drama and more composing. During college
she worked in theater, but she also took voice
lessons and continued composing. After trials
and travails on the coffeehouse circuit,
Williams released her debut album in 1993. Her
riveting soprano voice and songwriting knack
caught the attention of critics, and she has been
a major player in the folk scene ever since.
She released her second CD, Mortal City,
in 1995 and her third, End of the Summer, in
PM
G I A N C A R LO G U E R R E R O, CO N D U C TO R
A phenomenal lineup burns down the house at the season finale. Verdi’s “Force
of Destiny.” Jon Nakamatsu at the keyboard for the flying octaves of Saint-Saëns’
Piano Concerto. And Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5—a hammer blow of triumph.
TICKETS 682-5000
Dar picks up the pace.
15, 8
eugenesymphony.org
Concert Sponsor
Artist Sponsors
Nils & Jewel Hult Endowment
On this tour, Williams is promoting a non-
profit organization called SELF, which
stands for Solar Electric Light Fund. The
group encourages the use of solar and renew-
able energy in rural areas and developing na-
tions. No coffeehouse can hold her now:
Williams performs Saturday, May 10 at the
McDonald Theatre.
That same night across town at Sam
Bond’s you’ll find the “anti-folkswagger” of
Minnesotan Ben Weaver. Born right here in
lil’ old Eugene, Weaver’s parents moved a lot
as he was growing up and finally settled in St.
Paul. Not many singer/songwriters have big-
name artists perform on their debut, but vet-
eran performer Greg Brown was impressed
enough to perform on Weaver’s debut, El
Camino Blues.
Williams revels in a seeming new-found freedom,
filling up the spaces in her previously spare acoustic
guitar-based folk with more rock and pop.
1997. Cry Cry Cry followed in 1998, earning
her even more fans and more prestigious gigs
at fairs and festivals all over the country.
2000 saw the release of The Green World.
Now, Williams unveils her latest master-
piece, The Beauty of the Rain, which hit
stores in February 2003.
This CD finds Williams moving in a dif-
ferent direction, musically as well as physi-
cally. She relocated to New York City from
New England and documents this transition
beautifully in the song Farewell to the Old
Me. Williams revels in a seeming new-found
freedom, filling up the spaces in her previ-
ously spare acoustic guitar-based folk with
more rock and pop. Obviously, fans find this
new Dar appealing: Beauty opened with her
strongest first-week sales ever.
The CD also features some wonderful
guest artists who add to the allure. John
Medeski offers keyboards on “Farewell” and
“I Saw A Bird Fly Away,” and John Popper
(Blues Traveler) adds vocals and harmonica
heat, as well. Trumpeter Chris Botti enhances
the title track and Allison Krauss (Union
Station) sings on “The One Who Knows.”
Bela Fleck kicks in some banjo, along with
bass from Stefan Lessard (Dave Matthews
Band) and String Cheese Incident’s Michael
Kang on fiddle.
A second CD, Living in the Ground, soon
followed.
Weaver is currently touring behind his
third release, Hollerin’ at a Woodpecker.
Weaver’s songs are stories, and they seem to
take on a life of their own. Weaver inhabits
his stories and gives the characters and events
a fullness that seems real and unexaggerated.
Weaver sings about long nights and people
with worn-out hands and hearts, driving
around the countryside with only some cheap
beer and an AM radio for companionship. In
Weaver’s songs are people whose memories
of lost loves fade slowly, the visceral pain of a
broken heart never healing.
The songs on this CD aren’t cleaned up
and pretty. They are raw, gritty and real,
whether he’s writing about the understanding
that one day he’ll have lines on his face just
like his father does now, or hiding in the back
of a friend’s closet stealing glances at
Playboy. Weaver writes books when he’s not
writing songs, and has a keen ability to proj-
ect mood and setting into his lyrics and
music. At 23, Weaver has a gritty voice, a
care-worn heart and a perceptive ability to
link past, present and future that you might
expect from a man twice or three times his
age. He’s currently working on a fourth
album due out Fall of 2003.
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MAY 8, 2003 27