Hello!
Check out this exclusive Q&A with UK Country stars Ward Thomas. I hope to catch up with these girls at Cornbury Festival this year. Find out more about them below!
JZ:  It’s a very exciting time for the UK Country Music Scene, why do you think there has been such a surge in popularity for the genre in the UK?
WT: It really is! Well we think that a lot of the modern country music has made country a lot more relatable around the world! For example, artists like Taylor Swift, The Dixie Chicks and many others write about everyday life things that people over here in the UK and everywhere else can relate too. Rather than songs about trucks and cowboys that we do not grow up around. Although those songs can be great as well. Country had become a lot more relatable.
JZ: Â What do you think sets Country music apart from other musical genres?
WT: The harmonies, the stories and the honesty behind a real country song is what sets it apart.
JZ:  Which other acts will you be checking out at Cornbury 2015?
WT: Many. Of course we love Tom Jones so we will be watching him, The Fratellis, Striking Matches and many more.
JZ: Â Do you have any pre-performance rituals?
WT: We warm up our vocals before every show. There is obviously the setting up of the stage and as a band we do have a little chant before going on stage.
JZ:  Is there anything you can’t travel without?
WT: We have these big bears that are very good to travel with haha. Can’t live without them! We also have to have tea.
JZ:  What is your best experience on stage to date?
WT: We’ve loved playing at many places! But we’d have to say the experience of performing at the O2 arena was pretty surreal and at the Radio 2 Hyde Park Festival last year was incredible! Seeing all those people singing along!
JZ: Â What projects do you have coming up this year?
WT: We have written many new songs recently and so we’re excited to be working on a new album as a project.
JZ:  What Country artist has been the biggest influence on your career?
WT: The Dixie Chicks. They are incredible musicians and vocalists and their songs are just great. We love the honesty and harmonies in the songs and they all have a story.
JZ:  Which band/artist would you most like to perform or collaborate with?
WT: We’d love to perform with either Alison Krauss or Miranda Lambert and would love to write with Kacey Musgraves and many more.
JZ:  Do you have any non-musical ambitions – run a marathon, own a football club, train a winning racehorse?
WT: To train a race horse would be great! A lot easier said then done! But in a fantasy world that would be a great reward! And to run a marathon would also be a great goal.
What should the Cornbury audience expect from your performance this summer?
WT: We love to have fun with the audience! They should expect a full band with a lively vibe mixed with a few stripped back acoustic songs in the middle of the set.
Ward Thomas will be appearing at Cornbury Music Festival at the Great Tew Estate near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire on Saturday 11 July.
More information and tickets at cornburyfestival.com
Thanks!
Just Zoe x
