My appreciation for ZZ is something that has flourished for a couple years now.
During the winter of my junior year of high school, I had the unique opportunity to meet and be mentored by Isaac Slade, the lead singer of The Fray. After talking with Slade about music production and the beautiful madness of it all, I was given tickets to his show that same evening. I was stoked to see The Fray perform and to sing-scream along to “How to Save a Life”, but later found that it wasn’t Slade who would be the most memorable performer of the night but instead ZZ Ward. I’d never seen or heard of her before then but ZZ was opening for the Fray and had a set of about 45 minutes. During that time, she sang the soulful and fiery songs on her then newly released album, Til the Casket Drops. It could’ve been her jazzy style or her actual mink coat and gold chain that appealed to me – of which I’m not sure I loved more – but I was a fan immediately.