A new generation of Brits have taken up country music with gusto, breathing life into a genre often maligned on this side of the pond. Amongst the biggest is Ward Thomas – ahead of their Cardiff gig, Carl Marsh talks to of the twin-sister duo.
Working with my brother or sister would be an absolute nightmare. How do you both avoid such dramas that often can go on with having a sibling working close?
It’s been one of those processes that as we started when we were very young, it has become quite normal; we haven’t got a clue as to what else is out there. We are so used to working together, and we do get on very well, but we do have very different personalities. I guess if we were quite similar we would be at each other’s throats – so, we’re fortunate!
Which of you had the idea of forming the duo? Was it when you were growing up a farm in rural Hampshire?
It was a very organic decision between the pair of us – we didn’t even really think about it. Having a very outdoorsy childhood definitely encouraged our creativity as we had a lot of time to be imaginative. We used to go on long dog walks or horse rides and sing. It was just very musical growing up in the countryside.
You’ve both been singing since a young age, but how did you get your first music contract?
We’ve sung since we were little; we sang at local pubs, family dos. Our family are very musical, so we have always been surrounded by music and creative personalities. We started writing songs at our college together, and we had a teacher who used to be a session singer in Nashville. We had written a song called Footnote, which was one of the first songs on our first album – she got excited about the song, sent it over to one of her Nashville contacts and the next thing we knew, we were being flown over there to record. Our whole Nashville career started from there. Four years later, after releasing the album From Where We Stand and writing Cartwheels, we signed with Sony.
How much freedom have you been given with your latest album Restless Minds, especially as Cartwheels was written before your contract with Sony?
Sony was pretty uninvolved with the A&R and creative process of Cartwheels, but we are at that age where we have been very much willing to try things and experiment a bit with our sound. Sony has always been very encouraging with that, and we have been very lucky with the team we’ve got there because they’ve been encouraging of everything that we’ve wanted to do and take our music.
With Restless Minds specifically, we’ve had enough room to do what we have wanted with the album: there are some very country songs in there and some pop songs that are completely not-country at all.
Your second album went to number one in the UK album charts. No other UK country band has ever achieved that before!
It still surprises us now – we were kind of hoping for top 40 and then when we found out that we were number one in the album charts, it was a real ‘pinch me’ moment! It definitely has brought higher expectations to this new record. We always try to have high hopes and low expectations as you can never know how well things connect with the buying public.
The music industry has changed so much that we don’t really understand it anymore! It is a weird time in the industry and it is hard to really know, so we have just tried to make the best album that we can, and hope for the best.
Ward Thomas, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Mon 4 Mar. Tickets: £20.50-£29.50. Info: 029 2087 8444 / www.stdavidshall.co.uk