Retronaut Favorites: ZZ Ward

I was introduced to ZZ Ward from a record store sampler in 2012, called Universal Music Group Record Store Day Sampler 2012. 

Whenever I heard this sampler, ZZ’s acoustic version of her tune, “‘Til The Casket Drops” always stood out to me, and I wanted to hear more.

I recall listening to some of her songs on Spotify, and I didn’t have a copy of her album until I borrowed one from our local library to hear it in full.

I always listened to it in parts, but when my brother first went away to college, I listened to her first album, “Power Of The Hunter” by Tank, “Simon Townshend’s Moving Target” by Simon Townshend and Honey Davis, exclusively.

I only listened to these few albums because when my brother went away, he took our original offline music/photos exclusive Blackberry phone with him, and I had an Alcatel one with only a small amount of memory until I finally got a new Blackberry for myself.

Anyway, I used to listen to ZZ’s album in full for the first part of the ride before we went to visit him. It became one of my favorite albums because of a mix of the nostalgia I have from getting into it, but also from how I recall having a phase with all her songs, between mixtapes and hearing them in the car.

Upon hearing her second album, I had mixed feelings, at first. This wasn’t because I didn’t like it, I was just so used to hearing the first album and I wasn’t sure what to expect on her second album because there was 5 years between them being released.

It took me some time, but I learned to love the second album because it was different from the first. ZZ Ward is one of my favorite artists and I only know about her because of a sampler. Samplers are great resources for discovering new music, and thanks to this one, I discovered one of my all-time favorite artists.