ZZ Ward has been liberated. And it’s high time.
After years of being fenced in by major-label record companies, the singer-songwriter is calling her own shots. And making some of the best music of her career. That would be her fittingly titled new album Liberation, which finds her returning to her first love — the blues — with a blistering set of tracks that balance old-school juke-joint classics with her own originals about motherhood, marriage, love and lust. If all that weren’t enough, the LP has been released by the legendary Sun Records, making her a labelmate of Howlin’ Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis and some guy named Elvis. From her California home, Ward Zoomed in to discuss Liberation, growing up in the blues, where she goes from here and much more. Enjoy.