Long ago on a hot, late summer night I was driving alone on a beach road, the shadows of my headlights slicing the humid air amidst a million bugs in V formation, while the local radio station played a song called ‘Are You Out There’ by Dar Williams. It was one of those startling, magical instances where the song I was hearing made me feel more alive and less alone, the way the best songs do. And I felt connected to something invisible and mysterious—that whoever wrote that song knew what I was feeling. When Dar and I became friends years later, that was the first thing I wanted to share and to thank her for—for writing a song that mattered to me. In this beautiful and wise book, she explores how a song can matter in many different ways, to different people, for different reasons. The wisdom and the lessons she shares will illuminate not only the world of songwriters but anyone who seeks the sustenance of a creative life and practice.” —Mary Chapin Carpenter, Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter
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