Artist description Diane Ward is Florida's own independent musical gem. She is a passionate,acoustic guitar driven, performing singer / songwriter. Her music has received countless critical acclaim and has producedmany die-hard fans throughout the southeast.

Music Style acoustic driven, pop rock

Musical Influences many

Similar Artists johnatha brooke, the innocence mission, toad the wet sprocket, sheryl crow

Artist History solo, performing singer / songwriter since 1994.

Group Members Diane Ward Band = Diane Ward (acoustic guitar, vocals), Jack Shawde (lead, rhythm guitars), Debbie Duke (electric and acoustic upright bass), Howard Goldberg (drums, percussion) Debbie Duke (bass)

Instruments Diane sings, plays guitar, keyboards, drums and percussion.

Albums Mirror (1995) - Move (1999) The Great Impossible (2003)

Press Reviews For someone who fell into singing by mistake, it must have been a hell of an epiphany when Diane Ward first approached the microphone, as a shy drummer who covered for her band's missing singer. Since that shaky start over a decade ago, Ward has become one of the scene's most celebrated vocalists. Few can match the emotional stamina of her weathered sounding voice, which careens and tumbles effortlessly through songs of love, want and more want (it's a wonder the stage doesn't get sucked into the ground from all that want). This weekend Ward releases her third solo CD, the 15-song The Great Impossible, a work that finally puts forward her best asset -- her mesmerizing voice. The Great Impossible (on Ward's Shinytown Records label) has plenty going for it, with some of Ward's most subtle vocal performances on disc. Often compared -- myopically -- to singers like Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow and Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Ward is in a distinctive league of her own because of ... that voice. On The Great Impossible this is all the more apparent, as she seamlessly slides from gravelly tone to defenseless whisper to fragile falsetto, leading you by the ear through her simple stories. The Great Impossible is less muscular than her previous albums -- 1995's Mirror and 1999's Move -- and proves the old adage about ''less is more'' is sometimes correct. ''I started stretching out with different tunings, and writing moodier stuff, and it kind of naturally fell into this soft space,'' explains Ward, who co-produced the album with her longtime guitarist Jack Shawde. Ward's experimentations lead to small, subtle breakthroughs that show a side that deviates slightly from her notably energetic live shows: a piano chimes a simple melody in the spare acoustic eloquence of ''Perfect Kiss''; ''I Won't Step Down'' sounds like something out of Carole King's Seventies songbook; the warm thud of programmed drums add an ethereal quality to ''Clumsy.'' The result is a versatile album by a great singer. What else can you ask for?

Location Hollywood, FL - USA

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