DAGGERS

"I tend to exist in the darker parts of the psyche," Jim Ward admits. "That's where I've always been." And yet what makes the musician so unique and downright compelling is how exactly at the moment when the world joins him in the darkness u take, for example, the ultra-challenging year that was 2020 u it's then Ward is able to claw his way back into the light. "All I was doing was basically meditating with a guitar," Ward says of how every night during the pandemic, armed with a guitar as well as a bit of time and purpose, this prolific musician was able to churn out several riotous riffs that ultimately transformed into one of his most personal and profound albums to date. "I've always used music as an outlet for anxiety and frustration," notes Ward, who has played in a slew of monumental bands, from the iconic post-hardcore band At The Drive-In to Sparta, as well his alt-country project, Sleepercar.