Nashville Noise recently sat down and got to know country singer Josh Ward. We chatted about his transition on going from Texas to a larger scale audience.
Ward began his musical career from the tailgate of a truck performing after rodeo shows in Texas. Now, he has three full album releases under his belt and 10 No. 1 songs on the Texas music chart. He’s also just released a new album and just released his first national single, “Ain’t It Baby.” Big things are happening for Ward and the numbers prove that. Within just a few weeks, the single was streamed more than 300,000 times.
With that success under his belt, Ward is venturing outside of the Texas music scene with his traditional country sound. He’s keeping that sound that keeps fans coming back for more while continuing to grow his fan base across the country.
Nashville Noise: How would you describe your music?
Josh Ward: I am a sucker for the ballads. It’s either really, really honky-tonk or it’s gonna be a heartache ballad.
When it comes to picking songs for radio, how do you make that decision?
JW: We definitely play them live first and see the reaction to what the crowd is looking like… I hand pick every single one of mine. We don’t have a guy in a room going, “This is what we are putting out.” It’s definitely a team decision.
Has it been difficult now that you’re branching out of Texas?
JW: To me, I’m still doing the same thing I’ve always done, we are just doing it on a bigger platform… It’s changed a whole bunch travel wise but my music has grown with me.
Ward truly has music for all occasions. One song in particular grabs onto his audiences, no matter their life situation. “Sent Me to You” is from his 2012 album and Ward sings it as his salute to military families and first responders. The song has more than one million views on YouTube (and it’s just the audio). Another song was featured in the Netflix show, The Ranch. Ward is clearly very proud of that feature and he uses it to open his shows.
Overall, Ward’s talent feels timeless. He acknowledges that a few songs in particular will stand the test of time. “‘Hard Whiskey,’ ‘Send Me to You’ and ‘Holding Me Together,’ those three songs they’ll be with me for the rest of my career.”
See what we mean by downloading your own copy of More Than I Deserve by clicking on the album artwork below.
