Lucy Ward (musician)

The youngest of six children,^[5] Lucy Ward grew up in Littleover, Derbyshire.^[6] She went to St Peter's Junior School in Littleover, and Littleover Community School.^[5] She started playing guitar and wrote her first song at the age of 14, and soon afterwards performed live for the first time.^[5] After performing at open mic nights across the Midlands she put her name forward for the BBC Young Folk Awards at the age of 18, and two years later signed a contract with Navigator Records.^[5]

On Adelphi Has to Fly, which is produced by Stu Hanna from Megson, Lucy Ward is accompanied by Sam Pegg, Belinda O'Hooley and Heidi Tidow from O'Hooley & Tidow and by Debbie and Stu Hanna.

The songs on the album include: "Stitch in Time" by Mike Waterson; "Maids When You're Young", a traditional song which was popularised by The Dubliners; Child ballad "The Two Sisters"; and "Death (Rock Me to Sleep)", based on a poem said to have been written by Anne Boleyn,^{[nb 2]} set to a tune by Lucy Ward. "Alice in the Bacon Box", a song written by Ward in the style of a traditional folk song, tells the story of Derbyshire hermit Alice Grace (1867–1927) from Little Eaton who, on being evicted from her cottage, lived in a box previously used for storing bacon, which had been given to her by the local butcher.^[7][1][8][9]

The album was critically acclaimed^[7] and received a four-starred review in The Guardian.^[3]

On 7 August 2013, in a concert at St Pancras Old Church, London, she launched her second album, Single Flame. Produced by Stu Hanna, it was released by Navigator Records on 19 August 2013.^[10] The album includes "For the Dead Men", a self-penned protest song, which was released as a single in January 2012 coupled with a remixed version of "Maids When You’re Young". This was again produced by Stu Hanna, who also performs on the two tracks, with his wife Debbie Hanna providing backing vocals.

In a four-starred review for The Guardian, Robin Denselow said that Lucy Ward "proves to be an even more mature and thoughtful singer-songwriter than she was on Adelphi Has to Fly" and described her follow-up album as "impressive and original" and "a brooding, often angry set that deals with everything from politics to love, death and personal tragedy, with a couple of powerful traditional songs added in".^[2]

Ward's third album, I Dreamt I Was a Bird, was released by Betty Beetroot Records on 2 October 2015. It received a four-starred review in The Daily Telegraph^[4] and was awarded Album of the Year 2015 by Fatea magazine.^[11]

Ward's fourth album, Pretty Warnings, was released by Betty Beetroot Records on 15 June 2018.^[12] David Pratt, reviewing the album for Folk Radio UK, described it as "a mesmerising, exquisite album which succeeds in mixing sometimes delicate, always thoughtful, image-laden originals with fresh, innovative re-workings of songs from the traditional folk canon".^[12]

Ward's music has been used as the soundtrack for award-winning director Kim Hopkins' documentary film Folie à Deux – madness made of two.^[13][14] The film soundtrack uses "For the Dead Men", some new original material and some cover songs played by Lucy Ward and Hungarian fiddle player Barnabas Balázs.^[15] The film, which shows the human cost of the banking crisis, premiered in November 2012 at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam^[16] and was broadcast on BBC Four in its Storyville international documentary series on 11 November 2013.^[17]

Lucy Ward was commissioned by BBC Radio 3's The Verb to write a song based on Elizabeth Gaskell's novel North and South. Her live performance of her new song "Creatures and Demons" was included in a special programme on Mrs Gaskell, broadcast on 3 October 2014.^[18]

Ward has also written songs and music for Robin Hood by the touring theatre company Oddsocks.^[19] It was announced in 2018 that Ward had been working alongside critically acclaimed choreographer, Deborah Norris to form the production company Henwives Tales.^[20] The company focuses on combining folk music and ballet/ dance productions for a variety of venues and events. Their debut production called The Sisters of Elva Hill is based upon the traditional folk tale The Two Princesses and has been branded a "folk ballet". An album of the music was released in 2019.

Ward has performed and recorded with the Cupola trio (Doug Eunson, Sarah Matthews and Oli Matthews)^[21] as Cupola:Ward, releasing in 2012 the EP Four and, in 2016, a debut album, Bluebell.

Ward provided vocals on one of the tracks – "Gospel of the Sun" – on David Gibb's 2011 album There Are Birds in My Garden^[22][23] and on a track – "There's a Dragon in My Bedroom" – on Gibb's 2014 album Letters Through Your Door.^[24] She also provided backing vocals on three of the tracks on Marc Block's album The Hawthorn Spring, released on 15 April 2014.^[25] Her vocals also appear on the 2015 Mills and Chimneys album The Common Thread.^[26]

Ward was a Young Folk Award finalist in the 2009 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards^[27][28] where she performed "Stitch in Time" by Mike Waterson. The song was included on the third CD of the album BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2009^[29] and a longer recording appeared on her 2011 album Adelphi Has to Fly.

In the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards she won the Horizon award (for best newcomer). Her recording of "Maids When You’re Young", which was subsequently included on the first CD of the album BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2012,^[30] was nominated as best traditional track.^[31]

In 2014, she was nominated for the "Folk Singer of the Year" award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.^[32] Her recording, from Single Flame, of the Roud 1302 song "Marching Through the Green Grass", was included on the album BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2014.^[33]

Lucy Ward lived in Mickleover, Derbyshire as of 2014.^[6] She has a black belt at tae kwon-do and has taught martial arts.^[5]

• Lucy Ward: official website