Lucy Ward
Lucy Ward at the Costa del Folk festival inMallorca in 2016
Background information
Born	Derby, Derbyshire, England
Genres	Folk, singer-songwriter
Instruments	vocals, guitar,harmonium,concertina, percussion, banjo
Labels	Navigator Records; Betty Beetroot
Website	www.lucywardsings.com

Lucy Victoria Ward is an English singer-songwriter fromDerby, England. She performs, with a voice described as expressive and powerful,^{[nb 1]} traditionalEnglish folk songs as well as her own material. Three of her albums,Adelphi Has to Fly,Single Flame andI Dreamt I Was a Bird, have been critically acclaimed and have each received four-starred reviews in the British national press.^[1][2][3][4]

The youngest of six children,^[5] Lucy Ward grew up inLittleover, Derbyshire.^[6] She went to St Peter's Junior School in Littleover, andLittleover Community School.^[5] She started playing guitar and wrote her first song at the age of 14, and soon afterwards performed live for the first time.^[5] After performing atopen mic nights acrossthe Midlands she put her name forward for the BBC Young Folk Awards at the age of 18, and two years later signed a contract withNavigator Records.^[5]

OnAdelphi Has to Fly, which is produced by Stu Hanna fromMegson, Lucy Ward is accompanied by Sam Pegg, Belinda O'Hooley and Heidi Tidow fromO'Hooley & Tidow and by Debbie and Stu Hanna.

The songs on the album include: "Stitch in Time" byMike Waterson; "Maids When You're Young", atraditional song which was popularised byThe Dubliners;Child ballad"The Two Sisters"; and "Death (Rock Me to Sleep)", based on a poem said to have been written byAnne Boleyn,^{[nb 2]} set to a tune by Lucy Ward. "Alice in the Bacon Box", a song written by Ward in the style of a traditional folk song, tells the story ofDerbyshirehermit Alice Grace (1867–1927) fromLittle Eaton who, on being evicted from her cottage, lived in a box previously used for storing bacon, which had been given to her by the local butcher.^[7][1][8][9]

The album was critically acclaimed^[7] and received a four-starred review inThe Guardian.^[3]

On 7 August 2013, in a concert atSt Pancras Old Church, London, she launched her second album,Single Flame. Produced by Stu Hanna, it was released by Navigator Records on 19 August 2013.^[10] The album includes "For the Dead Men", a self-pennedprotest song, which was released as a single in January 2012 coupled with a remixed version of "Maids When You’re Young". This was again produced by Stu Hanna, who also performs on the two tracks, with his wife Debbie Hanna providing backing vocals.

In a four-starred review forThe Guardian,Robin Denselow said that Lucy Ward "proves to be an even more mature and thoughtful singer-songwriter than she was on Adelphi Has to Fly" and described her follow-up album as "impressive and original" and "a brooding, often angry set that deals with everything from politics to love, death and personal tragedy, with a couple of powerful traditional songs added in".^[2]

Ward's third album,I Dreamt I Was a Bird, was released by Betty Beetroot Records on 2 October 2015. It received a four-starred review inThe Daily Telegraph^[4] and was awarded Album of the Year 2015 byFatea magazine.^[11]

Ward's fourth album,Pretty Warnings, was released by Betty Beetroot Records on 15 June 2018.^[12] David Pratt, reviewing the album forFolk Radio UK, described it as "a mesmerising, exquisite album which succeeds in mixing sometimes delicate, always thoughtful, image-laden originals with fresh, innovative re-workings of songs from the traditional folk canon".^[12]

Ward's music has been used as the soundtrack for award-winning directorKim Hopkins' documentary filmFolie à Deux – madness made of two.^[13][14] The film soundtrack uses "For the Dead Men", some new original material and some cover songs played by Lucy Ward and Hungarian fiddle playerBarnabas Balázs.^[15] The film, which shows the human cost of the2008 financial crisis, premiered in November 2012 at theInternational Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam^[16] and was broadcast onBBC Four in itsStoryville international documentary series on 11 November 2013.^[17]

Lucy Ward was commissioned byBBC Radio 3'sThe Verb to write a song based onElizabeth Gaskell's novelNorth and South. Her live performance of her new song "Creatures and Demons" was included in a special programme on Mrs Gaskell, broadcast on 3 October 2014.^[18]

Ward has also written songs and music forRobin Hood by the touring theatre company Oddsocks.^[19] It was announced in 2018 that Ward had been working alongside critically acclaimed choreographer, Deborah Norris to form the production companyHenwives Tales.^[20] The company focuses on combining folk music and ballet/ dance productions for a variety of venues and events. Their debut production calledThe Sisters of Elva Hill is based upon the traditional folk taleThe Two Princesses and has been branded a "folk ballet". An album of the music was released in 2019.

Ward has performed and recorded with the Cupola trio (Doug Eunson, Sarah Matthews and Oli Matthews)^[21] asCupola:Ward, releasing in 2012 theEPFour and, in 2016, a debut album,Bluebell.

Ward provided vocals on one of the tracks – "Gospel of the Sun" – onDavid Gibb's 2011 albumThere Are Birds in My Garden^[22][23] and on a track – "There's a Dragon in My Bedroom" – on Gibb's 2014 albumLetters Through Your Door.^[24] She also provided backing vocals on three of the tracks on Marc Block's albumThe Hawthorn Spring, released on 15 April 2014.^[25] Her vocals also appear on the 2015 Mills and Chimneys albumThe Common Thread.^[26]

Ward was a Young Folk Award finalist in the 2009BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards^[27][28] where she performed "Stitch in Time" byMike Waterson. The song was included on the third CD of the albumBBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2009^[29] and a longer recording appeared on her 2011 albumAdelphi Has to Fly.

In the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards she won the Horizon award (for best newcomer). Her recording of "Maids When You’re Young", which was subsequently included on the first CD of the albumBBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2012,^[30] was nominated as best traditional track.^[31]

In 2014, she was nominated for the "Folk Singer of the Year" award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.^[32] Her recording, fromSingle Flame, of theRoud 1302 song "Marching Through the Green Grass", was included on the albumBBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2014.^[33]

Lucy Ward lived inMickleover, Derbyshire as of 2014.^[6] She has ablack belt attae kwon-do and has taughtmartial arts.^[5]

• Lucy Ward: official website

• Living people
• 21st-century British guitarists
• 21st-century English women singers
• 21st-century English singers
• 21st-century British women guitarists
• English women singer-songwriters
• English singer-songwriters
• English folk guitarists
• English folk singers
• English women guitarists
• Musicians from Derby
• People from Littleover
• People from Mickleover

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