Williams continued to practice that approach on the 2005 CD, "My Better Self" (also produced by Lerman), but feels she was even more open-minded in making "Promised Land." The fact that Williams wanted a producer who would bring new ideas and input to the project is a sign of how her approach to record making has evolved over the past half dozen years.Īfter making her 2000 CD, "The Green World," Williams realized that she had been too controlling in the studio and was doing too much to orchestrate and guide the recording process.įor her next CD, 2003's "The Beauty Of The Rain," she stepped back somewhat during the project, and gave co-producers Lerman and Rob Hyman more of a voice in the proceedings and also encouraged the musicians on that album to bring more of their personalities and styles to their playing. It might be lack of discernment, too, on my part."
"But really, I grew up with such a great palette of sounds, it all sounds good to me. "The fact that he threw a lot of things in my direction and I was receptive, I think, probably impressed him and made him really feel like I was taking on some challenges," she said. So if I was having a good day vocally, that really showed up in the final product. "But at the end of the day, everyone is hitting hard, but my lyrics and my voice and the nuance in my voice - because women's voices just get more interesting as they get older there's more history in them - he was there to catch that. "He's not afraid to really push a rock thing," Williams said of Wood.
But Williams said Wood also understood the importance of keeping her voice at the center of the songs. In reality, Williams said, Wood (whose credits include Pete Yorn, Liz Phair and the Smashing Pumpkins) did bring a rock aesthetic to certain aspects of "Promised Land." In particular, Wood brought in a drummer, Travis McNabb of Better Than Ezra, who has a rock background. So by all means, present me as a brave person." "And it's good for people to believe that I'm being brave. I'm pleased that he thought I was being so brave," Williams said. "I chose him because he fit my comfort zone. It's a compliment Williams happily accepts, but not without downplaying any artistic courage she showed in doing the album. Wood, in fact, has praised Williams for her willingness to step outside of her comfort zone in recording "Promised Land." "Promised Land," Williams' seventh studio album, is yet another in an unbroken string of solid efforts that showcases her immediately appealing folk-pop sound and sharply drawn lyrics.īut if the music on "Promised Land" fits neatly alongside the rest of Williams' album catalog, her approach to making the album had a few notable departures.Īfter working with producer Stewart Lerman on her previous two albums - "The Beauty Of The Rain" and "My Better Self" - she chose to work Brad Wood, a producer with a rock, not folk, background and a notably different group of musicians. Life as a mother/wife/musician means juggling the demands of home and family with the demands of promoting a tour and new CD comes with an understandable element of chaos, But it seems clear that when it comes to the music itself, Williams continues to have things under control. "Sorry, I'm multi-tasking," Williams said, as she tried to answer an interview question, tend to her son (who wanted to show his mother a pepper he had found, presumably from the household garden) and deal with an incoming call for another interview. It was a busy morning at the Dar Williams household when she picked up the phone to do an interview.Īs Williams fielded questions about her current tour and her latest CD, "Promised Land," she was also dealing with the needs of her four-year-old son, Stephen, and a shifting schedule that had seen several phone interviews in rapid back-to-back succession.
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