WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 Hi, this is ZZ Ward, and you're listening to 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:16.859 My Weekly Mixtape with Brian Colburn. Welcome 00:00:16.859 --> 00:00:19.800 to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that takes the 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:22.980 classic mixtape approach to building a modern 00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:26.109 playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn. On tonight's 00:00:26.109 --> 00:00:28.850 special album dive edition of the show, I'm joined 00:00:28.850 --> 00:00:31.609 by singer -songwriter ZZ Ward to talk about her 00:00:31.609 --> 00:00:34.609 brand new EP, Mother, which was just released 00:00:34.609 --> 00:00:37.990 via the legendary Sun Records. ZZ, it's a pleasure 00:00:37.990 --> 00:00:40.549 to have you on My Weekly Mixtape. Thank you. 00:00:40.609 --> 00:00:43.369 Happy to be here. Well, before we dive into the 00:00:43.369 --> 00:00:45.969 album, I always like to ask my first -time guests, 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:51.170 what does the word mixtape mean to you? Oh my 00:00:51.170 --> 00:00:55.070 gosh, I guess... Mixtape for me just reminds 00:00:55.070 --> 00:00:59.130 me of like when I put out a mixtape right before 00:00:59.130 --> 00:01:03.390 I put out my first album. And for me, it was 00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:08.969 I went into these rap songs that I loved. I took 00:01:08.969 --> 00:01:11.590 the rappers off. I took the tracks and I wrote 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:14.189 blues songs over them. And then I put that out. 00:01:14.810 --> 00:01:17.349 So that's what I think that when you say mixtape, 00:01:17.590 --> 00:01:20.230 which was a really and we called it Eleven Roses. 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:22.030 And that was a really special moment in my career. 00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:26.599 Awesome. Well, before we dive into the topic 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.299 du jour, which is your new Mother EP, I'd like 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:31.299 to touch on some other things from this year 00:01:31.299 --> 00:01:34.620 as 2024 has been an extremely busy year for you. 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:37.799 Mother is actually the second EP you've released 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:41.239 in 2024 as Where Did All the Love Go? dropped 00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:45.180 this past April as the follow -up to 2023's Dirty 00:01:45.180 --> 00:01:49.319 Shine LP. Stylistically, these two EPs present 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:52.750 the listener with Two different musical vibes. 00:01:52.969 --> 00:01:55.549 Can you talk about the differences between them? 00:01:56.129 --> 00:01:59.790 Absolutely. Yeah, Where Did All the Love Go was 00:01:59.790 --> 00:02:04.909 very much kind of very rock inspired, kind of 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:09.189 like, I don't know, maybe like pop rock. And 00:02:09.189 --> 00:02:12.349 Dirty Shine was really like a collection of songs 00:02:12.349 --> 00:02:14.530 that I just wanted to put out that I had never 00:02:14.530 --> 00:02:17.069 released. And so it was the first time I had 00:02:17.069 --> 00:02:19.710 become an independent artist since I got signed 00:02:19.710 --> 00:02:24.030 to a major. So I put out Dirty Shine and then 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:27.169 I had some more songs I wanted to put out on 00:02:27.169 --> 00:02:30.009 for Where Did All the Love Go? And then this 00:02:30.009 --> 00:02:33.330 new EP is really kind of like where my heart 00:02:33.330 --> 00:02:36.310 is as far as like what I wanted to do. I knew 00:02:36.310 --> 00:02:39.270 I wanted to go further into the blues and I grew 00:02:39.270 --> 00:02:42.729 up listening to the blues and it was just so 00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:45.550 much of who I was as an artist growing up and 00:02:45.550 --> 00:02:49.439 learning my first experiences on stage. So I 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:51.120 knew I wanted to go further into the blues. I 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:53.460 had always incorporated blues into my music. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.180 But the mother EP is kind of like the first taste 00:02:57.180 --> 00:03:00.479 of where I'm headed. Well, also this summer, 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:03.979 you joined Slash and a huge list of blues rock 00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:08.060 artists on his 2024 Serpent Tour, which included 00:03:08.060 --> 00:03:12.460 Robert Randolph, Larkin Poe, Kingfish, and obviously 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:16.479 Slash. The blues has always been a part of your 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:18.919 sound, but across your career, you've fused that 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:21.599 with different elements of pop, hip hop, rock, 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:25.259 and even far beyond. Did the Serpent Tour happen 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:28.900 to reinvigorate your blues fire in any way? As 00:03:28.900 --> 00:03:32.039 Mother, to me, personally, listening to this 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:34.879 EP several times over the last week, could be 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.879 the most straight ahead blues and soul music 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:40.770 you've released in your career. Yeah, absolutely. 00:03:41.189 --> 00:03:43.629 That's a good observation. It definitely is what 00:03:43.629 --> 00:03:47.610 I'm trying to do. So I had made this music before 00:03:47.610 --> 00:03:51.990 I went on that tour, slash heard it, and wanted 00:03:51.990 --> 00:03:54.930 me to come on tour with him. He was doing this 00:03:54.930 --> 00:03:57.789 project in celebration of the blues, which is 00:03:57.789 --> 00:04:01.590 the orgy of the damned. And he wanted to do a 00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:04.949 blues festival tour to support that and some 00:04:04.949 --> 00:04:07.569 charities that he was supporting by doing that. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:11.039 And he was looking into bringing other artists 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:12.860 out with him and he heard the new music that 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:14.719 I was working on and he wanted to bring me out. 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:18.500 So that's kind of how that kind of went. It was 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:21.339 super inspiring being out there with him and 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:24.000 all of those other artists. Like I grew up listening 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.779 to Keb Moe and I'm such a big Larkin Poe fan 00:04:27.779 --> 00:04:32.000 and Eric Gales was out there. I mean, and Kingfish. 00:04:32.019 --> 00:04:35.860 It was an incredible tour. Well, let's dive into 00:04:35.860 --> 00:04:37.959 the new EP Mother, which, like I said at the 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:40.439 top of the show, was just released via the legendary 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:44.220 Sun Records. Now, we're talking Carl Perkins, 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:49.680 Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Howlin' 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:55.040 Wolf, Elvis Presley, ZZ Ward. Can you talk about 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.199 how the connection to Sun Records came about 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:01.279 and what it means to you on both a personal and 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:05.300 professional level? Yeah, absolutely. You know, 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:09.680 it really was such an honor to be kind of like 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.899 the new face of Sun Records. I remember my dad 00:05:13.899 --> 00:05:16.819 taking me into like the Salvation Army and like 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:19.600 showing me the vinyl and being like, you know, 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:22.579 I love old vinyl like we can collect this vinyl. 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:25.379 And like this is the Sun label, you know, and 00:05:25.379 --> 00:05:27.779 he was telling me about the record label, one 00:05:27.779 --> 00:05:31.930 of the greatest labels that there ever was. They 00:05:31.930 --> 00:05:34.370 heard my new music that I was working on and 00:05:34.370 --> 00:05:38.029 they were like, this is what we want to be the 00:05:38.029 --> 00:05:40.430 new face of the label. I was just absolutely 00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:43.769 like so honored. Well, let's start diving into 00:05:43.769 --> 00:05:46.569 the songs, starting with the opening and title 00:05:46.569 --> 00:06:52.110 track, Mother. ZZ, you and I are coming from 00:06:52.110 --> 00:06:55.189 the parental aspect from slightly different viewpoints 00:06:55.189 --> 00:06:58.550 as you're the mother to two young boys and I 00:06:58.550 --> 00:07:01.470 am the father to two middle -aged girls, high 00:07:01.470 --> 00:07:05.050 school and middle school. However, when I hear 00:07:05.050 --> 00:07:08.550 you sing lyrics like, like a train that speeds 00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:11.610 right through the station, takes all of you to 00:07:11.610 --> 00:07:14.709 keep up with it, I can't help but resonate with 00:07:14.709 --> 00:07:16.970 this as a parent. Those lyrics actually brought 00:07:16.970 --> 00:07:20.709 a tear to my eye. Can you talk about how your 00:07:20.709 --> 00:07:24.189 experiences as a mom helped pave the way for 00:07:24.189 --> 00:07:28.529 this song? Yeah, absolutely. That is so cool 00:07:28.529 --> 00:07:31.129 to hear. And I think what's so amazing about 00:07:31.129 --> 00:07:34.610 this song is that I've heard from other fathers 00:07:34.610 --> 00:07:37.360 that they love this song. And I think that was 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.439 honest, like just to be completely vulnerable. 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:42.560 Like that was a concern I had when I wrote the 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:44.339 song. Cause I was like, well, I don't really 00:07:44.339 --> 00:07:47.180 want to make dads feel like, you know, like I'm 00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:49.939 just saying this is a mother struggle. And so 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:53.019 it's been really cool to like hear other dads 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:55.939 being like, oh my gosh, like I love this song. 00:07:56.019 --> 00:07:57.759 I can totally relate to this song, especially 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:01.819 when it wasn't what I was trying to do. So that 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:03.920 was something that was really cool. And yeah. 00:08:05.470 --> 00:08:07.949 So, yeah, when I wrote that song, it was really 00:08:07.949 --> 00:08:10.250 just like I knew I wanted to go further into 00:08:10.250 --> 00:08:13.050 the blues. I had just had my first son and I 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:17.370 was feeling super overwhelmed. And like, I obviously 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:20.069 love being a mother. Like, it's the greatest 00:08:20.069 --> 00:08:22.689 joy that I've ever known. Having my sons is the 00:08:22.689 --> 00:08:24.370 best thing I've ever done with my life without 00:08:24.370 --> 00:08:26.689 question. But when we're talking about the blues. 00:08:27.550 --> 00:08:29.449 I grew up listening to the blues and yeah, there's 00:08:29.449 --> 00:08:31.329 definitely some good boogie woogie songs, but 00:08:31.329 --> 00:08:33.690 there's also a lot of pain and suffering that 00:08:33.690 --> 00:08:36.149 came out of the blues and that the blues was 00:08:36.149 --> 00:08:38.509 used as a therapy for people to get through the 00:08:38.509 --> 00:08:39.990 experiences that we're going through. Now where 00:08:39.990 --> 00:08:42.009 I don't have those same experiences, I have my 00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:45.250 own experiences. So when I wrote mother, I really 00:08:45.250 --> 00:08:47.409 wanted to talk about the struggle of being a 00:08:47.409 --> 00:08:50.070 new parent and how all of a sudden your world 00:08:50.070 --> 00:08:53.370 is just completely changed and it's a job that's 00:08:53.370 --> 00:08:56.460 24 seven and it doesn't stop. And it doesn't 00:08:56.460 --> 00:08:58.980 matter what you have going on in your life. You 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:01.600 need to step it up for that kid. And it's just 00:09:01.600 --> 00:09:03.399 like something you could never imagine until 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:07.620 you're a parent. I kid you not. I was sprinting 00:09:07.620 --> 00:09:09.720 home from my daughter's high school volleyball 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:12.720 game just to make sure I made it on time for 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:17.120 our sit down tonight. Oh my gosh. So I completely 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.179 get where you're coming from, but I love the 00:09:19.179 --> 00:09:21.740 sentiment and the power and the emotion in the 00:09:21.740 --> 00:09:24.059 song because every parent, whether it's a mother 00:09:24.059 --> 00:09:27.580 or a father has, had those moments where you 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:29.919 just wonder how you're keeping up and how you're 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.799 moving on through it day to day. Because once 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:34.279 you're a parent, it's not something you could 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:37.279 just kind of set aside. It becomes part of who 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:40.679 you are. Well, the second track on the EP is 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:42.820 one that listeners of this show know that I'm 00:09:42.820 --> 00:09:44.759 going to be excited to talk about because I am 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:47.899 a huge fan of cover songs. And this is your take 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:58.429 on Arthur Kudryp's My Baby Left Me. It was nothing 00:09:58.429 --> 00:10:01.429 I had done Was all this stuff he heard But he 00:10:01.429 --> 00:10:21.669 done left me This song gained further popularity 00:10:21.669 --> 00:10:23.990 across the decades, having been covered by the 00:10:23.990 --> 00:10:26.769 likes of Elvis Presley, Creedence Clearwater 00:10:26.769 --> 00:10:29.730 Revival, Loggins and Messina and hard rock band 00:10:29.730 --> 00:10:33.330 Slade, among others. What were you looking to 00:10:33.330 --> 00:10:35.649 bring to your rendition of this classic blues 00:10:35.649 --> 00:10:39.610 song? Yeah, I think when we think about My Baby 00:10:39.610 --> 00:10:42.210 Left Me, it's just like it's written from this 00:10:42.210 --> 00:10:45.519 place of being. heartbroken and devastated really 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:49.360 from somebody leaving you and not being able 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:51.899 to do anything about it but it's very interesting 00:10:51.899 --> 00:10:56.279 because it's an upbeat song and it makes you 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:58.360 want to dance and it makes you want to move so 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:00.539 it really kind of messes with your brain in a 00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:03.220 way because the message is that of like you know 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:06.820 being heartbroken but it's kind of presented 00:11:06.820 --> 00:11:10.639 to you in this way that makes you want to get 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:12.440 over it, I guess. And maybe you're not there 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:17.539 yet. So when I wanted to cover this song, what 00:11:17.539 --> 00:11:19.820 did I want to bring to the table? I really just 00:11:19.820 --> 00:11:22.419 felt like... It was kind of, you know, you don't 00:11:22.419 --> 00:11:24.779 hear a lot of songs like that. You know, sometimes 00:11:24.779 --> 00:11:27.019 it's like a heartbroken and it's a slow song 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:30.100 or it makes you want to cry. But this kind of 00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:32.320 had that interesting dichotomy that I really 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:35.139 wanted to just I just really wanted to sing it. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:37.000 And I'm so happy that I did. And I love the way 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:39.779 that it turned out. It's a musical yin and yang 00:11:39.779 --> 00:11:44.200 for sure. Now, next up is a new rendition of. 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:47.240 what I'll call a classic ZZ Ward song, because 00:11:47.240 --> 00:11:50.000 it's the song that personally for me introduced 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.100 me to your music back in 2012. And that's the 00:11:54.100 --> 00:12:46.399 new Dirty Son version of Put the Gun Down. The 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:49.059 original version from till the casket drops reach 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:51.820 number seven on the billboard adult alternative 00:12:51.820 --> 00:12:55.139 songs chart. And as much as I love that original, 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:59.779 this version is so fricking massive, including 00:12:59.779 --> 00:13:02.899 the horn section, which talk about taking the 00:13:02.899 --> 00:13:05.980 song to another level. Can you talk about your 00:13:05.980 --> 00:13:08.720 decision to rerecord, put the gun down for this 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.820 release? Because as much as I know it as track 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:14.960 two on till the casket drops, I can't picture 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:17.299 the mother EP without this fresh take on the 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:21.480 song now. Yeah, that's awesome, man. Yeah, you 00:13:21.480 --> 00:13:25.120 know, I knew that I wanted to bring a couple 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:29.240 of my older songs into this new world with me, 00:13:29.299 --> 00:13:31.639 which is funny, right? This new world that happens 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:35.379 to feel so classic. But I think the thing about 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:38.600 a great song is it can be done so many different 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:41.649 ways. Now, the trick with a song like Put the 00:13:41.649 --> 00:13:45.909 Gun Down is people know it so well for how it 00:13:45.909 --> 00:13:49.190 hits them sonically and not only the chord structure 00:13:49.190 --> 00:13:52.929 and the top line on it. So we really had to be 00:13:52.929 --> 00:13:56.690 careful how we approached this song. But I think 00:13:56.690 --> 00:13:59.549 because it is such a classic song, like the way 00:13:59.549 --> 00:14:02.190 that it's written, that it kind of lent itself 00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:06.870 to being done in a more organic way. Yeah. So 00:14:06.870 --> 00:14:08.950 that's kind of what we did with it. We just had 00:14:08.950 --> 00:14:11.330 to be really, really careful. You know, we wanted 00:14:11.330 --> 00:14:15.529 to like make it better and not take away anything. 00:14:16.129 --> 00:14:19.090 So it's interesting. It's almost like we did. 00:14:19.169 --> 00:14:21.509 It's like we made it modern because it's 2024. 00:14:21.649 --> 00:14:24.429 But like we made it more throwback. It's so weird. 00:14:26.819 --> 00:14:29.460 Well, I'm going to skip over a song for a second 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:32.100 because I want to stay on this topic and play 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:35.600 a clip from another track that you re -recorded 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:38.259 from the Till the Casket Drops album, and that's 00:14:38.259 --> 00:14:57.299 Lil Darlin'. I love to hate you, but I just can't 00:14:57.299 --> 00:15:02.679 shake you. Oh, please, please, please, stop trying 00:15:02.679 --> 00:16:01.929 to fix it. As you did with Put the Gun Down, 00:16:02.090 --> 00:16:04.929 you've once again added this new layer of heft 00:16:04.929 --> 00:16:08.519 to this version. But I still hear that hip hop 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:10.779 influence that Blended Babies brought to the 00:16:10.779 --> 00:16:14.039 original. How did you strike a balance between 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:17.360 giving this track its home on Mother, but not 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:21.019 making it too far removed for fans of the original? 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.120 Because I still hear that hip hop influence, 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:25.980 but it's much more subtle in this version, but 00:16:25.980 --> 00:16:28.490 it's still definitely there. Yeah, that's such 00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:30.710 a great question. And you know, it was something 00:16:30.710 --> 00:16:32.889 that I was very conscious of, because you have 00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:35.950 fans of these songs that are like diehard fans 00:16:35.950 --> 00:16:38.330 of these songs, and you don't want to disappoint 00:16:38.330 --> 00:16:41.669 them. So like, it was definitely something I 00:16:41.669 --> 00:16:44.049 was considering when I was in the studio. I think 00:16:44.049 --> 00:16:47.210 that the hip hop cadence to it is like when I 00:16:47.210 --> 00:16:49.710 originally wrote this song, I wrote this song 00:16:49.710 --> 00:16:52.730 over a beat that they made. They had a drum track, 00:16:52.830 --> 00:16:55.850 and some production elements were probably there. 00:16:56.620 --> 00:17:00.399 So the cadence of the verse is very hip -hop. 00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:03.919 It's very rap. So that's the way that I wrote 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:06.700 the song over the track that Blended Babies had 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:10.359 made. So when you take away that track, it still 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:12.619 kind of has that flow. And that's what makes 00:17:12.619 --> 00:17:15.019 it so special. And that's what makes it not just 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:17.220 your typical blues song. It kind of gives it 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:21.059 a little bit of diversity there with that. And 00:17:21.059 --> 00:17:23.460 then the beautiful thing about this song was 00:17:23.460 --> 00:17:25.900 when... you bring kind of like that floating 00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:30.059 horn section in there. Like it really adds something 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:33.339 that wasn't there before. And again, it just 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:36.019 kind of, you know, goes to show if you, if you 00:17:36.019 --> 00:17:39.700 write a really great song and you know, I know 00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:42.680 I'm saying that about my song, I don't always 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:44.980 write great songs, but these two in particular 00:17:44.980 --> 00:17:47.680 were great songs. And so they can be done different 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:51.079 ways, you know? So it was really fun to really 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.349 fun to approach both of these. in a new way. 00:17:55.130 --> 00:17:57.869 Well, I'll argue and say you write a hell of 00:17:57.869 --> 00:17:59.730 a lot of great songs, but, you know, we could 00:17:59.730 --> 00:18:03.750 fight about that later. Next up is your take 00:18:03.750 --> 00:18:23.359 on Johnny Adams' soul track, I Have No One. Don't 00:18:23.359 --> 00:19:31.480 be So tell me Now, this is an extremely emotional 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:34.799 cover. And when you take a song that has this 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:38.119 timeless nature to it, it feels like a breath 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:41.980 of fresh air in terms of what modern soul can 00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:46.740 sound like in 2024. Was that something you were 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:49.259 taking into account when you went into the studio 00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:52.500 to put your stamp on this song to keep it having 00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:56.359 that old school soul sound, but in the modern 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:01.509 era? I don't necessarily think of it as like 00:20:01.509 --> 00:20:06.009 I want to keep it sounding modern. I think I 00:20:06.009 --> 00:20:09.569 check off that same box that my approach to it 00:20:09.569 --> 00:20:14.490 is more listen to it. Because you could do a 00:20:14.490 --> 00:20:18.490 lot of old soul and a lot of blues and it could 00:20:18.490 --> 00:20:21.269 not be exciting. You know, you could write a 00:20:21.269 --> 00:20:24.069 basic blues song and it might not be special 00:20:24.069 --> 00:20:27.009 or exciting. And I think for me, it's really 00:20:27.009 --> 00:20:30.200 finding that. delicate balance of making something 00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:33.420 that's kind of true to those genres, but also 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:38.279 it has to be emotional and it has to have some 00:20:38.279 --> 00:20:42.099 edge to it. And so that's kind of what I'm thinking 00:20:42.099 --> 00:20:44.740 about in my head when I approached I Have No 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:47.480 One. You know, I don't want to make it too smooth 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:50.859 or too slick. And that also comes down to working 00:20:50.859 --> 00:20:53.400 with the right sound engineer, I think as well. 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:57.730 I mean, that is such a huge part. And being a 00:20:57.730 --> 00:21:01.670 good producer and a good sound engineer is as 00:21:01.670 --> 00:21:04.869 much of a gift as it is to write the actual song. 00:21:05.009 --> 00:21:07.450 Because if you do it bad, it could really take 00:21:07.450 --> 00:21:10.130 away from people hearing the greatness in something. 00:21:10.289 --> 00:21:13.029 And I got to work with Ryan Spraker on this EP, 00:21:13.289 --> 00:21:16.700 and he's just such a mega talent. He's awesome. 00:21:16.779 --> 00:21:19.740 I went to him when I knew I wanted to go further 00:21:19.740 --> 00:21:23.740 into the blues and roots music. I had worked 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:26.380 with him on a song called Friends Like These. 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:29.200 And we wrote that song together. And I could 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:31.259 hear him playing guitar in the room when we wrote 00:21:31.259 --> 00:21:34.380 that song together. And I knew he had some foundation 00:21:34.380 --> 00:21:37.380 in the blues. It was like I could tell. And the 00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:40.049 more I talked with him, the more. I realized 00:21:40.049 --> 00:21:43.930 his knowledge of older music. And so, yeah, you 00:21:43.930 --> 00:21:46.009 know, both of us together, we put our heads together 00:21:46.009 --> 00:21:48.589 and and that's kind of, you know, how we came 00:21:48.589 --> 00:21:51.849 up with that. Well, the last song on the EP is 00:21:51.849 --> 00:21:56.509 your stomping take of the Jester's 1965 Sun Records 00:21:56.509 --> 00:22:51.230 hit Cadillac Man. Closing out the EP with a touch 00:22:51.230 --> 00:22:55.210 of garage rock, rockabilly, and dare I even say 00:22:55.210 --> 00:22:58.609 gospel, but still keeping that blues and soul 00:22:58.609 --> 00:23:02.089 vibe in check, you truly closed out this EP putting 00:23:02.089 --> 00:23:05.589 a smile on my face. What drew you to this cover 00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:09.609 of a deeper Sun Records track? Because this electric 00:23:09.609 --> 00:23:13.329 rendition screams to me that you might have a 00:23:13.329 --> 00:23:15.470 personal history with this song. Maybe I'm wrong. 00:23:16.940 --> 00:23:19.500 You know, this song is an incredible song. It 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:22.819 is. It's such an amazing song. When I started 00:23:22.819 --> 00:23:26.960 playing it live, we had recorded this song, and 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:29.359 it was a hell of a lot of lyrics to get in there. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.799 I was like, holy shit, trying to get all these 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.220 lyrics into this recording is a mouthful. And 00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:38.920 the more I would play this song live, I wondered 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:42.920 if the audience would be able to digest the incredible 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:46.119 story that's in this song from the live show. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:48.420 I don't know, you know, when I was up there on 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:50.019 stage and I'd be singing and I was thinking, 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:52.140 are they getting all these lyrics? Because when 00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:54.740 I really had time to digest these lyrics, I was 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:57.519 like, this song is incredible. This is a car 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:00.000 chase song. This is literally like you're suddenly 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.740 transported to a movie where you've stolen a 00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:05.099 car that you can't afford and the cops are on 00:24:05.099 --> 00:24:07.960 your tail. And it's just amazing. I've never 00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:10.240 heard a song quite like this song. It's really, 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:12.920 really unique. And so I'm so proud that it's 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:17.049 on the EP. And yeah, it's a very special song. 00:24:17.309 --> 00:24:20.829 That it is. And while the mother EP is available 00:24:20.829 --> 00:24:24.089 everywhere on streaming, there are a lot of the 00:24:24.089 --> 00:24:26.710 My Weekly Mixtape listeners that are huge fans 00:24:26.710 --> 00:24:29.569 of physical media, me being one of them, be it 00:24:29.569 --> 00:24:33.069 vinyl or CD. So with that said, I was combing 00:24:33.069 --> 00:24:35.650 the Record Store Day Black Friday list and I 00:24:35.650 --> 00:24:40.799 saw this gorgeous. Dirty Son die cut guitar pick 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:44.240 shaped vinyl featuring two of the songs from 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:47.160 Mother, the reimagined take of Put the Gun Down 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:50.339 and your electric cover of Cadillac Man that 00:24:50.339 --> 00:24:52.980 we just talked about. Can you talk about this 00:24:52.980 --> 00:24:54.980 limited release? Because there's only a thousand 00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:57.599 copies being pressed. And maybe with that, your 00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:00.480 thoughts on Record Store Day as a whole. I mean, 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:02.900 I love Record Store Day. It's really something 00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:05.619 that I think is such a beautiful tradition that 00:25:05.619 --> 00:25:10.160 we keep this vinyl alive. I mean, honestly, nothing 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:14.180 sounds as good as vinyl. We all know that. And 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:16.819 so I'm so honored to be a part of Record Store 00:25:16.819 --> 00:25:20.660 Day. And yeah, it's just a really freaking cool 00:25:20.660 --> 00:25:24.059 vinyl that we put together. And I'm, you know, 00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:26.539 it's yeah, there's some limited availability 00:25:26.539 --> 00:25:30.440 and I'm just so happy to be a part of it. Now, 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:32.680 are there any plans right now for a physical 00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:37.200 release of the mother EP in its entirety? I don't 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:41.380 think so, but we have a lot more coming. I will 00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:45.099 say that we have a lot of plans for 2020. I was 00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:47.539 just going to say, is the mother EP the first 00:25:47.539 --> 00:25:50.539 taste of a new, maybe full length album that 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:52.599 we could see down the road through Sun Records? 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:55.660 Or is the focus going to be on more EPs kind 00:25:55.660 --> 00:25:59.180 of using your 2024 release approach as a blueprint? 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:03.559 Um, I think probably the first option, but I 00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:08.599 can't tell you everything now. Shrouded in secrecy. 00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:11.960 Okay. Okay. Well, something that's not so much 00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:14.079 a secret is you're going to be hitting the road 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:17.779 this November on the Dirty Sun Tour, which for 00:26:17.779 --> 00:26:19.779 now is going to be hitting the West Coast. But 00:26:19.779 --> 00:26:22.660 I've heard rumblings of a larger leg coming in 00:26:22.660 --> 00:26:27.089 2025. Given the all -in blues vibe of the mother 00:26:27.089 --> 00:26:29.789 EP that we've been talking about today and your 00:26:29.789 --> 00:26:32.589 stint on the Serpent Tour, is there anything 00:26:32.589 --> 00:26:34.950 different that fans can expect from this run 00:26:34.950 --> 00:26:37.410 of shows? Yeah, it's going to be a different 00:26:37.410 --> 00:26:40.369 show. Yeah, you know, I'm just headed in more 00:26:40.369 --> 00:26:43.750 of like an organic kind of like setup. You know, 00:26:43.789 --> 00:26:46.089 I think that in the past when people have come 00:26:46.089 --> 00:26:49.210 to my shows, there's a lot of hip -hop elements 00:26:49.210 --> 00:26:52.940 and maybe some pop elements. I think we're going 00:26:52.940 --> 00:26:56.240 to be leaning into more of the blues and soul 00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:59.660 and simplicity kind of aspect, re -approaching 00:26:59.660 --> 00:27:02.599 some songs that people might know in a different 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:05.940 way as well. So that's kind of more of where 00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:09.630 I'm headed. ZZ Ward's new EP, Mother, is available 00:27:09.630 --> 00:27:12.369 now on all of your favorite streaming sites. 00:27:12.470 --> 00:27:15.029 And I'll be sure that the EP is embedded on the 00:27:15.029 --> 00:27:18.869 episode page at myweeklymixtape .com. ZZ, thank 00:27:18.869 --> 00:27:21.130 you so much for taking the time to dive into 00:27:21.130 --> 00:27:24.549 this incredible EP. And I cannot wait for the 00:27:24.549 --> 00:27:26.910 Dirty Son tour to make its way through New Jersey 00:27:26.910 --> 00:27:29.930 so I can bring the entire family out to see some 00:27:29.930 --> 00:27:31.950 live blues the way it's supposed to be done. 00:27:32.069 --> 00:27:34.650 Thank you for joining me tonight. Awesome. Thank 00:27:34.650 --> 00:27:37.420 you so much. This was awesome. And to those out 00:27:37.420 --> 00:27:39.500 there listening, remember, you can find my weekly 00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:41.839 mixtape on almost all the social media haunts 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:45.180 at my weekly mixtape. You can also head to my 00:27:45.180 --> 00:27:47.319 weekly mixtape dot com to check out the full 00:27:47.319 --> 00:27:50.599 catalog of my weekly mixtape episodes. And if 00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:52.019 you like what you're hearing on the show, you 00:27:52.019 --> 00:27:54.619 can help me out by either telling a friend. leaving 00:27:54.619 --> 00:27:56.460 the show a five -star review wherever you're 00:27:56.460 --> 00:27:59.920 tuning in, or becoming a Patreon mixtaper at 00:27:59.920 --> 00:28:04.099 patreon .com forward slash myweeklymixtape. There 00:28:04.099 --> 00:28:06.279 you can enjoy ad -free episodes of the show, 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:09.660 gain early access to upcoming episodes, chime 00:28:09.660 --> 00:28:12.099 in on future topics, become a guest curator, 00:28:12.460 --> 00:28:15.420 and so much more. That's all for this week. Thanks 00:28:15.420 --> 00:28:18.099 again for listening, and until next time, enjoy 00:28:18.099 --> 00:28:18.680 the tunes.