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