With a brand new album just out, Ward Thomas are the talk of the town. I had a great time sitting down to Catherine - check out Part 1 of our interview here, and read on for a behind-the-scenes look at their time at C2C, dream collaborations, touring, personal lives and so much more - enjoy!
Ciara's Country (CC): I loved seeing you perform at C2C Country 2 Country last month - what was your experience at the ten year anniversary of C2C like?
Catherine Ward Thomas (CWT): It was amazing. We were so busy rushing around the entire time. We got to open the BBC Radio 2 stage at the Indigo on Saturday and that was really fun. Being first on stage in the early morning, I was apprehensive, thinking ‘oh, this is an early start!’ It’s very unusual, but I couldn't believe how up for it the audience were at 10:30 in the morning! It was really fun to be part of that. It's also really cool to see everyone who’s anyone in country music under one roof for that weekend.
CC: You were doing a bit of hosting on the main stage as well – I can’t imagine what it's like to get up there in front of tens of thousands of people like that. Do you get nervous when you head on stage?
CWT: Not really, in the sense of when we're going on and hosting and doing some introducing, it's very much you know what you're going to say, and you're only there for a second. But I do think that I would rather sing on stage instead of talk, because singing is definitely much more where we feel in our comfort zone. I think it doesn't really matter to us if there's two people in the audience or if there's two thousand people. When you know what you're doing and you know what you want to sing, it's about trying to deliver that performance. Actually, the nerves normally come when people that we know are sat in the front row! We want to make sure that they’re far away and we don't know they're there.
CC: Is everything a mad rush for you at festivals like C2C, or can you actually take some time to enjoy yourself?
CWT: A bit of both. C2C is always a bit of a mad rush because there's so much to do and so much to see. You have to be very organised to get everything that you want in that weekend. We definitely had some time to relax and enjoy the weekend as well, which was lovely. At other festivals, like when we played Glastonbury this year, we only had one show, we didn't have any promos, so we got there really early and got to enjoy the whole day before our show at eight. It was great.
CC: That sounds like the perfect way to do a festival. Did you get to see some of the artists you were looking forward to at C2C?
CWT: Yeah, very much. We got to watch Breland open the stage on Friday. He's got so much energy, I don't know how he does it. We got to watch a bit of Lady A, which was really special. There's something about them, they just write hits.
CC: Well I don’t know if there's anything that could make a Ward Thomas harmony even better, but if you could collaborate with any artist out there, who would you pick?
CWT: Oh my goodness, if we could do a pipe dream, it would probably be The Chicks, Brandi Carlisle or Lady A maybe. With all those extra voices, the harmonies that you could do would be so fun.
CC: And with so many studio albums under your belt now, how do you even pick what songs to play?
CWT: It’s difficult! We’ve spent hours on our setlist for this current tour. It’s hard – we’ve got five albums worth of songs now, and there's songs that we absolutely have to have in there, and then there are songs that we haven't really played much of that we want to put in. And now there's also the new album that we want to try and play! It's also more fun, selfishly, to play new songs. So it's trying to find a balance - we need to make sure we play the older ones, the songs that people want to hear, and then the songs that we want them to hear.
CC: What are the highs and lows of touring?
CWT: The highs are definitely being in a bubble with the band. We get on so well with them - we have so much fun, so the whole time you're touring, everyone on the bus are the only people that really exist in the world. The lows would probably be being away from home, we're big homebodies. I have two gorgeous dogs, a husband and a baby on the way, so touring and being away from my home life and my chickens are probably the lows.
It's not a huge compromise though, because the tours are never that long, and it's really fun to get the change of scene. It's really fun to go to different cities and see people show up. There’s nothing like having people sing the songs back to you and actually seeing proof that they've listened to them. They've turned up, they've chosen to spend their Friday night with you. That’s really cool.
CC: You mentioned there that so much has changed for you not only professionally but personally over the past year. Congratulations on your wedding!
CWT: Thank you!
CC: What was your first dance song?
CWT: We didn't actually have a first dance! I’m so horrible at dancing and I hate the idea of it. But we did have a very, very eclectic playlist and a DJ that played all of the songs we wanted. Some absolute must-plays right at the beginning were Daddy's Lessons by BeyoncĂ©, Sin Wagon by The Chicks, Hard Way Home by Brandy Carlisle, Need You Now by Lady A. It was very much a country heavy playlist.
CC: As it should be.
CWT: Absolutely!
CC: And a busy year ahead of you with a baby on the way!
CWT: Yes, tour in April, baby in May, and then the summer festivals happening. It's all going to be go go go.
CC: I bet ‘the bump’ is excited to join you on tour as well.
CWT: Yes, I'm hoping bump will be more used to loud noises by the time he’s is born so that we don't have trouble getting him to sleep or anything. That's the hope.
CC: Good idea! And then you can bring him to every kind of show that you want to.
CWT: Exactly!
CC: As someone who’s spent so long in the industry, can you give us some recommendations for underrated artists everyone should have on their playlist in 2023?
CWT: Yeah, I love that question, I never get asked that. There's so many amazing artists that need more recognition. I would say someone who deserves to have her name shouted from the rooftops is Laura Oakes. She's so talented. Her songwriting is so wonderful, her musicianship is great, and she just deserves to go the whole way.
CC: I love Laura! I hope you guys can do a joint tour at some point in the future.
CWT: That would be so good!
CC: Alright, my final question for you - what is one question that you’ve never been asked in an interview, but would love to be?
CWT: Ooh, I don’t know! We normally get asked lots of things. But I love the question you just asked me, because it’s lovely to shed light on some other artists out there. I think that's probably the best question.
CC: Can you tell me if you have any hidden talents then?
CWT: Hmm, I don't know if it's that hidden but I'm very into my baking. I like to make lots of cakes. I go out of my way to make massive ridiculous over-the-top showstopper cakes for my friends and family when birthdays are coming around the corner. Lizzie has many talents as well. She's a very good writer, which you can hear in her songwriting. She's also got this insane affinity with animals -they just flock to her. She loves them and they love her. We're both very much kind animal girls. I've got chickens and horses. Lizzie’s got a pony and we've got two dogs each. We’re very much at home when we’re around animals.
CC: Amazing, I feel like I know you so much better now! Thank you so much for your time Catherine, and I can’t wait to hear how your tour goes.
CWT: Thank you so much for having me. We're so excited to hit the road - hopefully we’ll see some of your readers out there too!
Huge thanks to Catherine for taking the time to chat with me - more interviews still to come, stay tuned @CiarasCountry to be the first to know when they're posted!
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