Up and Coming ZZ Ward Making First Visit to South Lake Tahoe

If you could take Muddy Waters, the Beatles, Tina Turner. David Bowie and Tom Petty, throw in a little Jay Z and mix them all up, you'd come up with a blond 27 year old named ZZ Ward.

After listening to her debut CD, "Til the Casket Drops", I am a new fan. And apparently I am not alone. "The tour has been incredible," Ward told me in a phone interview. "At every venue I'm seeing new fans and it's been a very positive thing to see."

Ward (who's birth name is Zsuzsanna) is on a U.S. Tour, hitting 25 states in 31 shows. She started in Philadelphia and will be wrapping it up at the three day long Coachella Festival. So far she has sold out shows in Madison, WI, Minneapolis, MN, Columbus, OH, San Francisco, CA and Coachella in Indio, CA.

She's making her first ever stop in Lake Tahoe on Saturday, April 5th with a show at Harrah's South Shore Room. "The show is going to be awesome," Ward said about her Lake Tahoe show. "The fans definitely bring such a great energy to a show. The more people get into it the more the band and I get into it."

ZZ was born in Pennsylvania but raised on a 23 acre farm outside of Roseburg, OR. She was singing in blues bars with her dad's band when just 12 years old. Ward recalls the first song she sang was "an Albert King track called 'As the Years Go Passing By'" At 16 she started picking up rap and hip hop and performing on stage in Eugene, OR. "Performing in different scenes like that helped me to be the artist I’ve become.”

She also started writing music at the age of 16. "Growing up on a large farm in an area without a lot of neighbors gave me a lot of time to figure out how to be creative." She said it also gave her a lot of balance. Not too into sports Ward learned to channel her energy and creativity into her music.

In her early 20s she moved to LA. Shortly after arriving there she was contacted by Evan Bogart, a producer and songwriter who's worked with Adam Lambert, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, and Rihanna. “When he called, I thought someone was playing a joke on me,” Ward says. “Then when we met, he asked me to play him a few songs.” Bogart liked what he heard and signed Ward to his new label, Boardwalk Records.

Her first CD "Til the Casket Drops" was released in October, 2012. She sang the first single off that record "Put The Gun Down" on The Jay Leno Show and Conan. ZZ's second single was '365 Days' (my personal favorite followed by 'Blue Eyes Blind') which she performed on The View and on a return trip to Leno. "I am real excited about the third single off the CD, "Last Love Song," said Ward. When asked what her favorite song was on the CD she said, "sometimes its 'Last Love Song' but it depends on my mood that day."

Her songs have been heard on television shows including Pretty Little Liars (the video is show in the story), Nashville, Awkward and Shameless. "I've been fortunate that my music is on great shows and movies," ZZ said. "Opportunities keep coming through."

"I take writing music very seriously," ZZ said when asked if she's working on a new CD. "Being on tour takes so much time that I can't focus. Once off the road I can dig in and work. Right now I'm just enjoying the tour."

When Ward hits Lake Tahoe she'll make it a vacation and enjoy time walking her Border Terrier (appropriately named Muddy Waters).

The April 5th show at Harrah's Tahoe will be at 7:30 p.m. in the South Shore Room. Tickets are $44 and a Meet N Greet Package is available for $112.