I believe in beauty. I believe in art. I believe in poetry, and passion, and in not being afraid to act happy when you're feeling happy (or sad, for that matter, when you're feeling sad). I believe in humor, smiles and optimism. I believe in everyday wonder, and in mixing it up a bit. I believe a little mischief doesn't hurt now and then. I believe in telling a good story. And I believe in music, because music is the perfect vehicle for capturing and expressing all these things I believe in.
I believe music and storytelling go hand in hand. But I also believe that if you're going to tell a story, you owe it to your listeners (and to yourself) to make it a good one. Ditto with music. There is too little time in this life to spend it listening to dull, unintelligible, banal, repetitive, mediocre, trite, and—dare I say—downright stupid songs (and there are a lot out there).
I hope to change that—one song at a time—by writing real, intelligent music.
Now that you know my philosophy, I encourage you to sit back and enjoy my music. I sincerely hope you find it time well spent.
The Door| buy CD | view liner notes |
1. Something Like You | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
Artistic and sublime. The words and music come together to paint a beautiful, lasting picture.
2. Street Cellist | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
A beautiful, haunting song inspired by Eli, pictured here. I've watched Eli perform on the streets of Salt Lake City for seven years now, and his health is visibly worse now than when this photo was taken. For a limited time, you can download this song for free from lulu.com. If the download button just plays it in your browser, right-click the link and tell it where to save/download it.
3. We is Us | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
Also known as The Relationship Song: "You is you. I is me. But we is us—the way it should be." This song would make Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband proud.
4. If My Lady Were an Automobile | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
If your lady were a car, would she be a Cadillac? Pick-up truck? GTO? Mini van? This uptempo song explores the possibilities, big-band style.
5. Inmate and the MD | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
The story of Sam and Joe, two boys who started out in the same place but chose very different paths.
6. Now That I've Found You | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
Written for my sweet Kristine on our 1-year wedding anniversary. ALERT: Husbands may want to use discretion in playing this song for their wives. Performing this song for a women's literary club prompted one woman to say, "I've been married for 50 years and my husband's never written me nothing!"
7. Brothers | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
The title says it all. Simple, folksy and autobiographical. Written for Lyle.
8. I'm Bad | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
I really have to work myself up before performing this one. Even then, I rarely manage to play it "bad" enough. It's bound to put a smile on your face, especially if you know me.
9. Four Questions | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
Q. When does two plus one equal four? A. When two lovers plus one failed relationship equals four unanswered questions.
10. The Best Ex I Ever Had | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
A real crowd-pleaser. Who knew ex-wives could be so much fun. After one gig, a man told me it sounded like I was singing about his life.
11. Idaho in Love | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
There's no better time and place for falling in love than summertime in Southeastern Idaho. Seriously.
12. Backhoe Man | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
Not your typical backhoe song (I know, it's such a crowded genre). This is more what you'd get if Chopin had paid for piano lessons by working as a heavy-equipment operator. Dedicated to my dad.
13. Something Called Love | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
A jazz quartet and an upbeat song about love. To paraphrase the Beatles, what more do you need?
14. Lost Soul | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
A nod to Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal," Tennyson, the military, the devil and dirty joints all over the world. It seemed particularly apropos performing this for drunken Navy sailors in a bar in Seward, Alaska.
15. What Did You Tell the Kids? | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
Get ready to cry. Until I recorded it, I didn't realize just how sad this song is.
16. The Door | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
Piano, celesta and strings take you on a metaphorical journey using musical splashes reminiscent of Rachmaninov and Elfman.
Singles
Christmas in Harlem | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
Spending Christmas alone is always miserable. And yet, it just might offer you a unique glimpse of the true meaning of Christmas, like it did for me one year.
Lord, is There Room in Thy Kingdom? | lyrics | music preview | buy music/song |
If you like Gounod's "O Divine Redeemer," you'll like the rawness and power of this religious song.
I discovered music at an early age. Some of my earliest memories are of lying in bed, looking up at my mom's smiling face as she sang me lullabies, then falling asleep to the beautiful sounds of her piano as she played Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata or Debussy's Claire de Lune.
My mom started teaching me piano lessons at age 3, and within a few years I was composing my own music. By age 9, I had already been a guest presenter at a college composition class and performed my pieces at the Cache Valley Composers' Festival.
At age 15, after many years of attending Utah State University's Youth Conservatory and studying under Dr. Dianne Hardy, I began teaching piano myself. Although teaching wasn't my favorite job, it sure beat milking cows, and paid better too. Besides giving me date money and keeping gas in my '68 Mustang, it also put me through college.
In college I studied jazz under Dr. Larry Smith, because no matter how well I played a Mendelssohn concerto, classical music somehow didn't have the same coolness factor when it came to wooing the girls.
Along with playing in the jazz band at Utah State, I also joined the USU Chorale. The Chorale required an audition, which I passed more on account of the director's son being a piano student of mine than on the merit of my voice. It was not until later in my 20s that I took voice lessons and really learned how to sing.
After college I attended grad school in New Orleans, where I soaked up the Crescent City's incredible music scene. Interestingly, my time there had a greater impact on my singing than my jazz playing. I started singing with the New Orleans Symphony Chorus, and the thrill of choral singing with a professional orchestra was like nothing I had ever experienced.
Upon moving back to Utah I immediately joined the Utah Symphony Chorus. Then a few years later I found myself at the pinnacle of choral singing as a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, where I performed with some of the best musicians in the world, recorded 11 CDs and DVDs, and toured throughout the United States and Canada.
In my 30s I started guitar lessons, then later picked up the accordion. Although the piano will always be my primary instrument, I find it hard to pick up the guitar and not have a new song present itself. Whereas the piano almost always demands complexity when I'm creating music, the guitar is just the opposite for me.
After spending a decade as one among hundreds of performers, always careful to blend with my fellow singers and adapt to the inspiration of another composer, I decided to swing the pendulum back as far as it could go: to that of a solo performer. Now when I perform it is just my voice, my accompaniment, my inspiration. I find it quite liberating.
Today, my many years of studying theory, piano, voice, guitar, and sitting behind an orchestra are giving shape to my poetry, storytelling and propensity to create music, in whatever musical form it happens to take.
I love getting feedback, so feel free to share your thoughts about my music. If you buy my music from any online distributors, I'd appreciate it if you let me know you did. As much as I enjoy knowing that people are buying my music, I enjoy it even more when I know who those people are.
My printed music at lulu.com is for voice and accompaniment only. If you're interested in the full arrangement of any of my songs, let me know.
If you would like to hire me for gigs, send me an email or give me a call. I'm available weeknights and Saturdays along the Wasatch Front. As you've probably noticed, my music requires active participation from the listener, so I'm much better suited for small, intimate concerts rather than as background music for everyone to talk over. I love doing house concerts. If you're wondering what house concerts entail, here's a great place to go for information.
Show your support by becoming a "fan" on my Faceboook musician page.
Adam Ward
801-541-3179
To purchase physical CDs, click the CD Baby link. For sheet music and MP3s, click the Lulu.com link. Lulu is the only place right now to buy singles that aren't on The Door. All other online distributors below have MP3s from the album available. So choose your store.
