Ellington

Singer-songwriter Brad Ward, a Jackson native, began writing wry, witty, heartbreaking folk songs a few years back while he was still in college at the University of Mississippi. The desire to pursue his music didn't come to fruition until he moved back to his hometown in 2009 after a short stint working for a marketing firm in Oxford. Since then, Ward has played several shows performing as Marlowe and the Sea. He has also finished a record on the Elegant Trainwreck label.

The songs on his soon-to-be-released record, "The More Things Change," are raw, intimate and well-crafted folk with influences such as the Avett Brothers, Elliott Smith and Okkervil River. Each tune's timeless sound is steeped in grit and honest reflection. Written mostly about ex-girlfriends and break ups, the songs could easily be dismissed, but lyrically, this record is a gem. Ward puts biting humor in his songs. This isn't some sappy sad guy, but a thoughtful artist who is more of a storyteller than a whiny chump with a guitar.

Ward finds his strength in writing lyrics with clever turns of phrases and tongue-in-cheek nuance. You can't help but smile at them.

His track "The Contest" exhibits this aesthetic when Ward sings in his raspy, twang-spun croon:

"I built a frame to hang the pictures in your dreams. But then the frame fell from the wall with all the weight. You said the frame was frail. I blame the wall. So we chalked it up to fate."

The instrumentation on the album is sparse but deliberate and tasteful.

"I tried to only have guitar and one other instrument on each song," Ward said. "I wanted it to sound primitive, because that's a lot of what I listen to."

While he plays guitar, harmonica, trombone and banjo on the album, Ward gets help from some great local musicians—including at times Tyler Kemp (piano), Jason Daniel (banjitar) and Caitlin McNally (percussion).

This gives the album a subtle depth and variance.

Ward set up a CD release show in early November with a couple of other local bands who are also on the same label. He plans for Marlowe and the Sea to be more than a one-man band.

"I envision something where I have some kind of part-time percussionist and people rotate on instruments," he said.

"I like different combinations. I don't want to be a ‘three-piece.' I prefer to have the bluegrass-type instrumentation with horns. Probably a rotating line-up."

His lack of a band doesn't stop him from playing great shows now, though. Ward's voice catches your attention, and he easily wins over an audience within the first bar.

He sounds like a man from a time long gone whose twang swirls around and settles in all the right syllables. While still shy on stage, his elegant songcraft and always on-point vocals sift away any notion that this guy isn't one of the most talented new acts in Jackson.

Ward doesn't have any shows scheduled in the immediate future, but they will happen, he said. To find out more about the CD, visit http://www.elegant-trainwreck.com/
artists/marlowe-and-the-sea.