If you know anything about country music
in the UK, the name Ward Thomas will not be unfamiliar to you - after watching them perform at C2C Country 2 Country (check that out here!) I got the chance to catch up with Catherine Ward Thomas to discuss being part of UK country since day one, new album Music In The Madness, true crime, and recording in Nashville - enjoy!
Ciara’s Country (CC): I could not be more excited for today's guest. Catherine, thank you so much for being here!
Catherine Ward Thomas (CWT): Thank you for having me!
CC: When I think of UK country music, there are two names that come to mind - The Shires and Ward Thomas. You’ve both been here since the very beginning - how does it feel to have been a part of UK country since day one?
CWT: It’s been so exciting, especially seeing the growth over the last 10 years. We started out as a sort of ‘baby genre’ here in this country - it was us and The Shires and we were sort of doing it together. It was really exciting, the two of us making this for country music here in the UK. Now there's just so many amazing homegrown arts, and it's really exciting to be witnessing it.
CC: What are some of the biggest changes that you've seen in country music since you began?
CWT: Noticing how the genre has progressed so much over here. Originally, you’d think of it as more Country and Western - people would turn up in their Stetsons and cowboy boots, and it would be a little bit like a dress up show. Although I'm all for dressing up in country attire, there's many more people turning up now that just like the music, and they're there to watch it. They're not there to just join in the gimmick. I feel like that's a sign that the genre itself is being taken into its own in this country.
CC: We definitely saw some incredible outfits at C2C.
CWT: We absolutely did. And we signed a lot of hats, so that was quite cool.
CC: What’s the weirdest thing you've ever signed?
CWT: I don't know if it was weird or just more of an honour, but we signed someone's arm in Sharpie so that she could go and get it tattooed. That was pretty cool. That's probably the most standout thing I've ever signed.
CC: You want to make sure that your signature is perfect for something like that.
CWT: I know! I was like, ‘oh my goodness, the pressure!’ I had to make sure it was a good signature that time round.
CC: What a legacy! It’s been such a huge month for you in so many ways, especially with the release of your new album Music In The Madness. Tell me everything about your experience releasing that.
CWT: It’s been mad. It was about a year ago that we wrote the title track Music In The Madness, and then the rest of the album followed. Now to have the whole record out in the world is really special, because you never know what's going to be a standout track. You don't know what people are going to think. Then to hear which songs people are enjoying, which songs made them laugh, cry, it's really cool.
CC: There are so many exciting tracks for people to listen to on this new album – there’s Next To You, which has already been dubbed as the new Carry You Home, you've got your own reworking of Razorlight’s America, and of course we got to hear so many of them live over C2C weekend. Which track were you most excited for people to hear?
CWT: In terms of craft purposes and a song that we're most proud of, I think Love Does. It’s probably our favourite in songwriting, what it says and how it feels to sing it in the idea that we did the whole thing in harmony. That to me is one of the most exciting songs to be able to play. In terms of a song that I'm most excited to sing live, I would say it's Justice and Mercy. That was such a fun song to write, and it’s a bit of a palate cleanser on the record in terms of how it sounds in comparison to other songs. I'm excited for people to hear the whole album from track one all the way to the end and go through the motions of how we'd love it to be listened to.
CC: Justice and Mercy is definitely a much spookier side of Ward Thomas.
CWT: Yeah, that was very much inspired by the fact that Lizzie and I are massive true crime listeners. We listen to some podcasts that we absolutely love, and so we had that in our head along with the main Music In The Madness vibe being very much centred around the war in Russia and Ukraine and how there are some really crazy people out there that we find very dangerous. We thought ‘let's write a song about a fictional criminal who dies at the end by an act of God, because there is nothing more satisfying than an act of God killing someone who is so awful’. We wanted to paint a picture of these different towns where there's wanted posters everywhere, and half the town are like ‘we need justice, we need to see this person dead!’ and then the other half are like ‘we need mercy, we need to right, this person's soul!’ That's how that song came about.
CC: What a story! Do you have any recommendations of true crime podcasts that fans can intersperse listening to Music In The Madness with?
CWT: Yes, Morbid. It's run by two women who are niece and auntie, but they're very close in age so they're more like sisters. What Lizzie and I love the most about their podcast is the relationship between the two of them - it's very easy to relate to, with us being sisters. The chemistry between them is lovely to hear, they're very light hearted, and they're very respectful, very well researched, and you can learn loads about all of these random, crazy stories.
CC: Maybe if you ever get bored of making music, you can make your own true crime podcast.
CWT: Honestly I don't think I have the brain! Or the concentration to do the research that these girls do. I just like hearing them.
CC: Let’s stick to music then! I read that the writing and the recording of this album took place in both Nashville and the UK - do you find different points of inspiration depending on which country you're in?
CWT: Yeah, definitely. When we're in Nashville, the writing is very much centred around the discipline of it. Let’s say we land on a Sunday night, then we're straight into a session Monday morning. It's, go, go, go. It's very disciplined. We've got plans and ideas in our head that we've already thought of, and we're writing with people who are writing every day, all the time. It has a completely different vibe there. I think that the songs that come out of Nashville feel very much more honest, because you leave your ego at the door and you have to have a song at the end of the day. That discipline really suits the songwriting process, in our opinion.
When we're here in the UK and we're writing with some of our favourite writers over here, it's slightly more casual. There's no watching the clock so it's slightly less intense, and so I think you get very different types of songs because of that.
Plenty more Ward Thomas to come - stay tuned on @CiarasCountry to be the first to know when Part 2 of our interview is posted!
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