Today's guests: The Darlist

The Madmen Poets CD is now available! "And what might that be?" you ask? It is a tribute to folk-legend-in-the-making, Dar Williams. A fan-made CD, with various covers of Dar's songs as performed by members of the warm and wonderful Internet Community known as the Darlist.

This tribute is not one that you'll find in stores, but you've found it here now haven't you? Good thing too—this project is everything that folk is about: grassroots, community, volunteers, charity (all profits go to Dar's Snowden Foundation), and encompassing it all, great music!

For my part I recorded one of Dar's early songs (not found on her CDs even!) called Ireland. It's a beautiful, haunting ballad which makes metaphors of history, illustrating our need to run from the tragedies of life, and the gravity of committments that pull us back to face our fears. I worked again with producer Tom Espinola (Jealous Muse) and back-up vocalist Jennifer Fentress to create an ambient setting for the piece, full of rain and distant mourning. If you like Jealous Muse, you'll like this!

I'm extremely proud to be a part of The Madmen Poets project. It is a tribute to one of the greatest voices in contemporary folk—and, I think, a tribute to the gregarious spirit of one the finest international communities I've had the pleasure to be a part of: the Darlist.