Folky singer-songwriter Dar Williams will release her fourth solo album, titled "The Green World," on August 22, and she plans to embark on an extensive North American tour in support of the album starting on July 29 in Guelph, Ontario.

Williams recorded the album during sessions in New York City and Woodstock, New York with producer Stewart Lerman, who has also notched credits with the likes of Jules Shear, The Roches, and Sophie B. Hawkins.

"The Green World," Williams says, refers to a concept she learned from a class she took on Shakespeare while she was a student at Wesleyan University in Middleton, Connecticut.

"The closed world represented court life in Elizabethan England which set all the patterns of the day. It was the orderly part of life," Williams explained in a statement. "The green world was different. It was unpredictable and chaotic. It was an unmediated place literally represented by the forest, the wilderness, where you learned things you don't necessarily want to know about yourself."

The new album marks Williams' follow-up to her 1997 record, "The End Of The Summer," which has sold over 100,000 copies, as has her sophomore effort, 1996's "Mortal City."

On July 24, Williams will make a cloth-covered, limited-edition version of "The Green World" available through her label's Web site at www.razorandtie.com. In addition to the expanded packaging, the special edition of the album will also include a bonus track, a studio recording of "O' Canada Girls."

Dates for Dar Williams' upcoming tour:

• 7/29 - Guelph, ON @ Hillside Festival
• 7/30 - Guelph, ON @ Hillside Festival
• 8/6 - Newport, RI @ Fort Adams State Park
• 8/12 - Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Folk Festival
• 8/13 - Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Folk Festival
• 8/22 - New York, NY @ Bottom Line
• 8/23 - New York, NY @ Bottom Line
• 8/24 - New York, NY @ Bottom Line
• 9/14 - Burlington, VT @ Ira Allen Chapel
• 9/15 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
• 9/16 - University Park, PA @ HUB Auditorium
• 9/21 - Baltimore, MD @ Kraushaar Auditorium
• 9/22 - Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
• 9/23 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
• 9/24 - Cleveland, OH @ Ohio Theatre
• 9/26 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace
• 9/27 - Ann Arbor, MI @ Michigan Theater
• 9/29 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
• 9/30 - Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theatre
• 10/1 - St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater
• 10/3 - Bozeman, MT @ Emerson Cultural Center
• 10/6 - Vancouver, BC @ Richard's On Richards
• 10/7 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theatre
• 10/8 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
• 10/10 - Santa Rosa, CA @ Luther Burbank Center
• 10/11 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
• 10/12 - Sacramento, CA @ Crest Theatre
• 10/14 - S.J. Capistrano, CA @ Coach House
• 10/15 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theatre
• 10/17 - Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
• 10/18 - Tucson, AZ @ International Arts Center
• 10/20 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Gardiner Hall
• 10/22 - Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
• 11/1 - Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
• 11/2 - St. Louis, MO @ Sheldon Concert Hall
• 11/6 - Lexington, KY @ Public Library Theatre
• 11/8 - Asheville, NC @ Diana Wortham Theatre
• 11/9 - Charlotte, NC @ Great Aunt Stella Center
• 11/10 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
• 11/11 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
• 11/14 - Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere
• 11/17 - Concord, NH @ Capitol Center
• 11/18 - Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theater
• 11/19 - Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
• 11/21 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

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It appears that pop iconoclast David Bowie is feeling the hunger once again.

• David Bowie
• Dar Williams

Inspired by this year's Election Day vote, troubadour Dar Williams is letting visitors to her website engage in a little democratic process of their own by selecting a cover song for Williams to record.

The contest, which runs through November 10, asks fans to choose a track for Williams to record from a list of eight songs, including David Bowie's "Starman," Elvis Costello's "Party Girl," Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" and the Smiths' "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me."

After the results are tallied, Williams will head into a studio and cut a version of the winning song, which will be made available as a free Liquid Audio download from the singer's DarWeb site in mid-December.

Williams' Internet election is being held as part of a promotional tie-in for "Cry Cry Cry," an album of covers from the singer and fellow folksters Richard Shindell and Lucy Kaplansky, which features interpretations of R.E.M.'s "Fall on Me" and Ron Sexsmith's "Speaking with the Angel."

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Folk singer/songwriter Dar Williams prepared for her return stints on both this year's Lilith Tour and the Newport Folk Festival recently with a free performance at New York City's Central Park Summerstage.

• 8/14 - Charlotte, NC @ BLOCKBUSTER PAVILLION (Newport On The Road)
• 8/15 - Raleigh, NC @ Walnut Creek (Newport Folk Fest On the Road)
• 8/16 - Park City, UT @ Snow Park Lodge (Founders Title Folk & Bluegrass Festival)
• 8/19 - Telluride, CO @ The Art Factory
• 8/22 - Lyons, CO @ Rocky Mountain Folk Festival
• 8/23 - Burgettstown, PA @ Starlake Amphitheatre
• 8/25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Wolf Mountain (Lilith Fair)
• 8/26 - Boise, ID @ The Idaho Center (Lilith Fair)
• 8/28 - Calgary, AB @ McMahon Stadium (Lilith Fair)
• 8/29 - Edmonton, AB @ Commonwealth Stadium (Lilith Fair)
• 8/31 - Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird (Lilith Fair)
• 9/3 - Vancouver, BC @ VANCOUVER EAST CULTURAL CENTRE
• 9/4 - Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot
• 9/5 - Portland, OR @ RoseGarden Amphitheatre
• 9/6 - Anchorage, AK @ Discovery Theatre
• 9/30 - Bristol, UK @ Fiddler's
• 10/2 - Dublin, Ireland @ Whelan's
• 10/3 - London @ Queen Elizabeth Hall
• 10/5 - Edinburgh @ La Belle Angele
• 10/6 - Chester, UK @ Telford's Warehouse

• Dar Williams