She is the young woman with the big, bold voice and isn’t afraid to use it. With her sharp blue eyes cutting across the crowd that has moved up close to the stage like moths to a flame, she prepares them for one of her quick-witted songs. For someone so young, she sure knows how to spit a bit of venom into her reality-bites lyrics. And everyone loves her for it.
Amongst the audience at the House Of Blues in New Orleans, there are people in their twenties and people over forty; there are college kids and teachers. Some have traveled across town while others have traversed across several states. Just for her, ZZ Ward, born as Zsuszsanna Eva Ward.
So what is it about this new sensation that has music lovers clamoring to see her live and downloading her new album, Till The Casket Drops? Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Oregon, the twenty-four year old had plenty of time and space to formulate her words into poetic rhythms. With influences as eclectic as rap and blues, she meshed them together to create a unique sound that has you tapping your foot one moment and bopping low the next. From the naughty Adele-ish “Move Like U Stole It” to “Charlie Ain’t Home” to “Last Love Song,” Ward appears to be the next big thing on the horizon.
Having played Nashville the night before New Orleans, Ward was relaxing on her bus, where she talked to me about growing up in Oregon, moving to LA and letting her songs do all the talking.
Where did you play last night?
Oh gosh, where did we play? Nashville was last night, yeah. I love Nashville. I love the south and Nashville was one of the first places, out of Oregon and Pennsylvania, that I ever went after California.
Tell us about your new album, Till The Casket Drops.
You know, I had some great people I worked with on the record. Kendrick Lamar is on my record. Freddie Gibbs is on my record. Fitz from Fitz & The Tantrums, Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest, Ryan Tedder; I had some amazing talents work with me. It was just a really good time, honestly, and it was like I finally embraced the music that I wanted to make for this record. It’s been really well-received and it’s been a wild ride since it’s been out.
How long have you had these songs?
I probably wrote these songs in like a year before I went in the studio and did the record. So pretty quick before we went in there and produced them out.
What was it like working with Kendrick Lamar on “Cryin’ Wolf”?
I didn’t actually work with him on that song but I mean what he brought to that song is incredible. He is such a storyteller when he raps that. It’s a very obscure song that he’s on too, so he definitely owned it.
Why did you call your album Till The Casket Drops?
For me, it was one of the first songs that I wrote for the record and it just kind of defines the whole record for me. You know, the record was written about a relationship and the ups and downs of a relationship and that it’s not always pretty sometimes. But sometimes great love comes out of it. “Till The Casket Drops” just kind of defined that whole record for me.
Do you mind being so personal?
Not in my music. It’s hard for me sometimes when people ask me about the songs because I feel like they’re so straight-forward, like, I don’t really think there’s any more story you would need for some of these songs. But I don’t know, I feel really comfortable when I’m on stage, just letting it all out there.
What is your first memory of music?
I tried out for a play when I was a little kid, a musical, and I remember my brother was going to try out and my dad had worked on this song with him and he went to try out and they asked me if I wanted to go try out on the stage. And I went up there and I just sang really loud and I remember going up there when I was like six, like not caring (laughs). But I was singing in front of people but I was pretty comfortable with it. That was probably one of my first ones.
But the first time I sang was in my dad’s blues band and was a song called “As Years Go Passing By” by Albert King. I was probably like twelve and I’d go up there and it would be like a big moment for me to sing with this experienced blues band.
So getting on a stage was nothing to you.
Well, you know, it’s fun. At that point, I didn’t care. When I was like twelve, I would shake a lot when I got on stage, get really nervous, but then eventually you do it a lot and you kind of get over it.
What was it like growing up on a farm in Oregon?
Well, I didn’t exactly grow up on a farm. I grew up on a farm lot, that’s what I say (laughs) because my family is an east coast family. We moved to Oregon on a twenty-three acre farm lot. A lot of property, not a lot of chickens and cows and all that stuff. And we weren’t farmers by any means. We were surrounded by a lot of farmers but we weren’t. We sometimes rented out our property for people who had like cattle and stuff, so we’d have livestock around and like I would pet the cows sometimes, if they got close; maybe ride a horse but that was about it.
So what did you do all day out there?
Well, that’s a great question. Growing up in the country it gave me a lot of time to figure out what to do, a lot of time to be creative and that’s how I kind of got into music in the first place, cause I started kind of tinkling around on our Hammond B3 in our house and singing a lot and listening to blues and listening to hip hop. That’s kind of where it started.
What was it like moving to LA? Did you adjust well to it?
I took me a while. It was terrifying for me to move from Oregon. I mean, driving in LA is really, really scary and it’s a big city. Coming from just a little country road that I lived on, it’s a totally different world, but I love it. I love LA.
You’ve talked about your influences and one you have repeatedly mentioned is Big Mama Thornton. What was it about her music, and music like that, that captured you?
Her power. I was always attracted to female singers that could sing with power: Tina Turner and Big Mama and Etta James. I don’t know, I always really loved girls that could really belt and had a lot of flavor and had a lot of soul. So that’s why I got into her.
Has touring been what you envisioned it would be like?
No. I don’t think I really thought about how much touring becomes a part of your life when you become an artist. I mean, between now and when I put this record out, even before that, I mean, last year SXSW kicked off an entire year of touring for me. And you live out here on the road and it takes time to find the right people to be out here with you on the road. So it’s a big deal. But I’m getting a dog; the moment I get back I’m picking up my puppy, who is waiting for me right now. Her name is Muddy Waters and I’m very excited to get her and she’s going to be a road dog.
What was the most prophetic piece of advice you have received about the music business that that maybe you didn’t expect?
Hmm, I don’t know if there was anything that I really didn’t expect. I would say, if anyone told me to follow my gut with things, that’s the best advice that anyone’s ever given me, because it’s really kind of gotten me to where I am right now. Trusting my gut with the people I work with and from the very beginning, the people that are on my team, have believed in me from the moment that they heard me. That goes a long way with me.
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