ZZ Ward has developed a unique style over her career blending traditional blues with modern pop and even hip-hop. Ward is coming off a run on Slash’s S.E.R.P.E.N.T. tour and will release a new EP entitled Mother on October 4. ZZ recently took some time while finishing the Slash tour to discuss her music and career.
Please press the PLAY icon below for the MisplacedStraws ZZ Ward interview –
On being asked to take part in Slash’s S.E.R.P.E.N.T touring blues festival – It’s just a real honor. It’s like full circle for me. I’ve always loved the blues and it’s always been incorporated in my music. I’m just such a huge fan of a lot of these artists out here that are playing. From Robert Randolph to Larkin Poe to Kingfish, and obviously Slash. It’s been such an honor and awesome.
On if she approaches her set differently if the crowd may not be familiar with her – Yes and no. I think whether you’re winning them over or not I feel like what I’ve learned over many years of playing it’s just really be authentic up there with why you’re up there. For me, I love the stories behind these songs and I love, especially on this tour, I love playing the blues. I want to be up there with my musicians. I want to have a great time and really play our best show every night. I can’t necessarily control everything. I can’t control the vibes going to be in the venue. It’s different all the time.
On how she develops her style of the blues – I’ve always been asked “What are you trying to make something sound like?” It just has to make me feel something. Whether that is empowerment, a lot of times it’s empowerment, or frustration or aggression or, or sadness, I want to feel something from the music that I’m making. So a lot of times, that’s my first thing that I want to do. I’m a storyteller when I’m songwriting. So I’m usually telling my (story), talking my way, writing my way through something. That’s usually what I’m doing. I don’t know how the other artists that you spoke about (approach it), but that’s, that’s usually where I’m. So that’s kind of what I start with.
On if she ever felt pushback from purists for bringing hip-hop into the blues – No, I don’t think I would say I’ve gotten pushback. I think that, there are people that love that, they love the blend of things. They love kind of the genre-less influences of the blues and hip-hop. Then there are people that just are more traditionalist and love the blues more. I think on some of this newer project I’ve tried to really dive into that space a little bit more, just feeling like I had more freedom to just really, really do that and kind of experiment with that and go back to my roots and really what’s always made me, made my music what it is.
On if there is freedom to record on her own imprint – Yeah. With where I’m at in my career at this point, I’m, I’m way more confident than I ever was when I was signed before. I went ahead and I made a lot of my new music with the ideas and the passion. I took that and I went and made that music and then Sun (Records) heard it and they were like, “We love it”. They were on board, super passionate about it. I’m so happy it happened that way because for me, then I really feel like they’re really supportive of what I’m already loving, that I’m doing. I think I’m definitely more confident than I’ve ever been before to take the lead in what the kind of music that I want to make.
On if she likes the format of releasing singles and EPs rather than waiting for a full record – Yes and no, I like that we don’t have to hold things back. We can put things out more frequently, that I love. But I am a purist. I love a good album I love a good vinyl, I think for me that’s an experience that I think shouldn’t be ever taken away from new music listeners as time goes on. I think that’s something that I grew up doing was consuming a whole album, you know what I mean? And really feeling like you’re taking a step into an artist’s world or where are they going to take you? I think that the album for me is the most important thing. But I do love that we can put out songs frequently, and that’s also really fun.
On if she likes to test new music on stage before recording it – I think because I’m kind of a singer-songwriter at the core of what I do, and then I’ll bring a band to the stage, on the road with me and have them help me play the songs. I think because it comes from the songs more, I usually go make sure I feel really confident in those songs before I bring them to a live crowd. I could be wrong, but I feel like that probably that way of doing it probably stems more from like people that are not sure what they would want the production to sound like on a song, so they’re playing it live. They’re seeing what works, what doesn’t work. So for me, I like the space to do that and I also feel really confident that for the most part, there are songs you do, and I’ve had this experience before in my career where you do a song and it doesn’t it doesn’t work very well live and sometimes it’s hard to know what’s going to work live and what won’t work live and so It’s really interesting.
On her career goal moving forward – I think my goals have changed over the years. I have two sons and I’m still making music. Every night I’m on stage, I feel so grateful and glad. I feel so grateful that I’m up there playing my songs and getting to do what I love while being a mother to my kids and my boys and being there for them at the same time. I’m just so glad that I’ve been able to really be a career artist and an album artist, I just have albums coming out and I continually have a fan base that consumes those albums and comes to my shows and gives me energy back. That’s really my goal ultimately. Just to really be excited with the music that I’m making, I think is also very important to me. I’m so excited about the EP, I’m so in love with it, and I think that is so important, because you can’t expect anybody else to like something unless you love it and I’m crazy about it, so I feel like I’m sitting in a good place.
On her trademark fedora – The first song I ever sang in front of people was Albert King’s “As Years Go Passing By” on stage. I remember being super nervous to sing on stage. So I started wearing a fedora, to kind of be like the blues artists that I grew up listening to, like Big Mama Thornton and Muddy Waters. It would give me this confidence that I could be someone bigger than myself. Or stronger than myself. I’ve just always done it since I was a little kid. I just kept doing it ever since I started putting music out professionally.
