ZZ Ward

ZZ Ward has a powerful, soulful voice, a great ear for hooks and an old-school blues-rock sensibility fused with hip-hop rhythms, all playing out on a spaghetti-western landscape. Her third album, Dirty Shine, comes out Sept. 8 and is her first as a mother as well as an independent artist after two albums (Til the Casket Drops and The Storm) with Disney’s Hollywood label. Her DIY approach certainly hasn’t curbed her artistic ambitions: The new album includes collaborations with Vic Mensa and Aloe Blacc, her brother Adam William Ward directed mini-movies for several of the songs, and she even made (and sells) the fedoras she wears in them. My daughter Ruthie Caro, who turned me on to ZZ Ward’s music years ago, joins this lively conversation with one of her musical heroes.