Erin Enderline
Emi Sunshine
Porter Union
Brent Cobb
Joshua Morningstar
Cody Jinks
Tennessee Jet
The Steel Woods
Dallas Moore
Justin Wells
Johnathan Parker
Kayla Ray
This week I am happy to be able to bring you this interview with Ward Davis. I have been blessed to not only see this guy in concert 10+ times but also some how along the way I became friends with him. I truly consider Ward and his lead guitarist Cody Bennett brothers, and I love them both like family because they are family in my book. If you love the traditional country sound and respect the history of Country music then I have no doubt you will love Ward’s music. Please take a moment and like this page if you haven’t already so you will never miss any upcoming interviews and click the share button and share this post to help spread Ward’s music.
Round 1 – Brother the Ryman felt life changing for myself and I was just in the audience. Can you talk about this past weekend and your feelings on having played for 2 sold out nights at the Ryman?
Ward – “I’ve wanted to play at the Ryman since I was about 9 years old. I moved to Nashville, in 2000, and didn’t set foot in the place for the first 10 years of living here. I was hoping my first time in the Ryman would be to perform, in some capacity. I wanted to play it so bad, but somewhere in there I gave up on ever getting to. Dreams change, goals change, and I had decided to buckle down and write songs for a living, and had let performing kind of slip to the side. When I stopped chasing wild geese in Nashville, and started touring full time two years ago, I can honestly say that it never even crossed my mind that I might get to play there at some point. It didn’t seem realistic. I was really just looking for 12-15 markets where I could go play throughout the year, and make a living for my family. I was expecting to still be playing in shit-hole dive bars for tips at this point. The course changed when I started working with and touring with Cody Jinks. Our style’s aren’t necessarily the same, but we share that mutual love for writing songs, and I think we are just fans of one another. He’s been real generous, giving me that opening spot on so many of his shows, and getting to play the Ryman was just another example of that. The gesture of him letting me open the show, being there on that stage with my best friend, and just the pleasure of the whole experience was probably one of the best feelings I have ever felt. It’s up there with my daughter being born…it was a lot of the most magnificent moments of my life.”
Round 2 – Is there any news on when we may be seeing a new album?
Ward – “Well there won’t be a new album…I’ve got a new EP coming out here in the next couple of months..I’ve had it recorded for some time now, but have kept it shelved while I’ve been touring. I wanted to have some time to make sure it’s just right before I drop it. My friend Buddy Cannon offered up his talents to produce it, and he did a hell of a job. Buddy has produced a shit ton of records for a shit ton of artists, including George Jones, WIllie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Jamey Johnson, Sammy Kershaw, Kenny Chesney, Gilbert Donovan, and even more than I can’t think of. He produced “Unfair Weather Friend,” on Willie and Merle, and I just love the hell out of him for it. This little record is some of the best music I have ever recorded, albeit short…it’s gonna be sweet. I hate to speculate on a date yet, but I’d imagine it’ll be out before the weather gets warm again.”
Round 3 – The Wardens & The Flockers are 2 very loyal groups and they both love you, can you tell everyone your thoughts on these groups and what they mean to you?
Ward – “Is this a trick question? I’ve never seen anything like those guys..I’ve had a few die hard fans that have been coming to my few-and-far-between shows for the past 15 years who I’ve always just thought of as good friends, just because they did so much to help me keep the family fed, and the bills paid. I thought it was just friends being friendly…It’s weird for me to see so many people basically being the same way towards me, for no good reason. I mean, it’s humbling..I don’t expect it, and I spend a lot of time scratching my head trying to figure out why all these people are being so nice to me, and all they want from me is for me to keep doing what I love doing. But they are the ones that are making it all possible in the first place. It’s crazy…They don’t know me, and they weren’t there for all those years I was struggling to try to make something happen in this town, but somehow they seem to understand, and embrace my music. It’s overwhelming. So yeah. The Wardens and Flockers are about as cool of a bunch of fans as I could imagine. I love them.”‘
Round 4 – Everyone that knows you knows that you’re funny as hell, make us laugh brother and tell us one of your favorite stories or memories from the road…I know there must be some good ones with you and Jinks touring together.
Ward – “Man, this is a hard one. There are lots.. I guess my favorite most recent one, that isn’t too wild, was here a couple months ago when I got arrested in Hays, Kansas for possession of marijuana. In all fairness, I was trying to smoke it up as fast as I could, so I wouldn’t have to travel with it, but Kansas is long and wide, and it takes time to drive across it. I couldn’t get it all smoked up it time and the crime-fighting super-cops in Hays nabbed my ass. They cuffed me and stuffed me in the car, but not before Jinks verbally accosted every one of them, for being fucking assholes…He actually beat me to the jail to bail me out. I fuckin love that guy. Anyway, charges pending.”
Round 5 – What are some of your favorite hobbies outside of music?
Ward – “I don’t have many…not much time. I guess my favorite thing to do when I’m not touring, writing, being daddy, or sleeping, is hitting up thrift stores and searching for old books. I like old books…especially when they are rare and I can find some sucker on eBay to pay me 100 times what I paid for them. As a result of my hobby, my garage is full of boxes and boxes of old worthless books, that I refuse to throw out. I’ve also picked a couple of pretty nice oil paintings, some ancient pacific island tribal artifacts, and even a pretty sweet antelope head that hangs in the garage. So yeah, I guess I like to party at GoodWill for my hobby.”
Last Call – This is where you can say whatever you want to your fans and anyone else who may read this.
Ward – “Man, thanks for asking me to do this…I guess that’s all I want to say..Other than I love my life. I love what I do, and if I died tomorrow, I’d die a happy dude.”