Dar Williams at Woodlands Tavern

Its a highway, filled with deep, exotic colors and beautiful delicate things as well as the perils that come from moving so fast, says Dar Williams, describing modern life. On her 13th album, Hummingbird Highway, out September 12 on Righteous Babe Records, Williams celebrates the colors she glimpses from her vantage as a touring musician. I was a kid from the suburbs who listened when her hippie teachers said to get out in the world, Williams muses. Hummingbird Highway is the latest chapter in a richly unfolding story. Drawing on her experience as a playwright, Williams populates her latest album with nuanced characters that come alive in the space of a few minutes.On the title track, Williams sings from the perspective of a child speaking to her peripatetic and sometimes struggling parent. Blooming columbines, china blue teapots, and cinnamon bark number among the treasures in her life, despite the pirates that she imagines populating her worldly parents life. The pirates can be all s