Lauren Ruth Ward
Artist
LAUREN RUTH WARD
Lauren Ruth Ward is an artist on a mission. With the songs like the epic new EP, Mindseye, she is establishing herself as a new-generation rock star.
Armed with a voice that is, by turns, soulfully gritty and gently expressive, Ward brings her deeply personal songs to life in live performances that have a bold, otherworldly quality. She charges through guitar-fueled rockers like the viral smash “Messiah” with an explosive ferocity akin to Janis Joplin, while weaving poetic and acoustic confessionals like “Suburban Ego” with the fragile intimacy of a Laurel Canyon-era folk storyteller – all while imbuing each song with a unique and incomparable quality that can only be Lauren Ruth Ward. The secret sauce of her music is an astute understanding of rock music history, and her ability to sculpt it into a fresh and innovative new sound.
“I was raised on the music of legends,” Ward says, citing a childhood spent absorbing the recordings of Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Elliot Smith. “I was deeply moved by their art, and that inspired me to explore my own.”
She grew up in Baltimore and began performing as a hobby when she was 13 years old. After graduating from high school, she began working as a hairstylist. With time, however, it became clear that she needed to make music the focus of her life. It was around that same time that Ward also began to embrace her queerness. In 2015, she quit her job, broke up with her fiancé, and she moved to Los Angeles.
“It was the most magical time of my life,” Ward says, adding that she quickly connected with guitarist Eduardo Rivera, who helped her hone her songwriting and add some rock edge to her sound. She fleshed out her band with bassist/vocalist Livia Slingerland and drummer India Pascucci, and they released an eponymous EP in January 2016. That year, she also lent her voice to Polarcode's “I Crave You” and Ellogram's “Come Home.” To create her full-length debut, Ward and her band collaborated with respected producer/engineer Grey Goon. The resulting collection, “Well, Hell,” was released in February 2018.
Along the way, Ward built a strong reputation as fiery live performer, headlining shows that were lauded by critics and fans alike for their freewheeling passion and intensity. It’s that space where her music has always come to vivid, transcendent life.
“The beautiful part of making music is the way people connect with the songs,” Ward says, explaining that the chemistry between her and her audience is different every time she steps onstage. “I don’t always know where we’re going when a show begins, but it is always cathartic and beautiful.”
As Lauren Ruth Ward releases Mindseye, she is planning to spend a considerable amount of time onstage, with an extensive slate of tour dates planned both in the U.S. and in Europe from late 2022 through the first quarter of 2023. That comes on the heels of triumphant recent dates that include L.A. Pride and the Ohana Festival, as well as opening high-profile gigs for Donna Missal, Shakey Graves, and Melanie Martinez, and a sold-out 16-date tour of Europe.
