Jim Ward (musician)
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| Jim Ward | |
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| Born | September 19, 1976 El Paso, Texas, USA |
Jim Ward (born September 19, 1976 in El Paso, Texas) is the lead vocalist, guitarist and leader of the band Sparta. A self-taught guitarist and pianist, he was also the co-founder of the seminal (and now defunct) post-hardcore band At the Drive-In.
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[edit] El Paso Pussycats
Jim's first major band, Ward played Guitar and sang lead. This is where he began to work with drummer Cedric Bixler. They broke up after one release.
[edit] At The Drive-in
While in At The Drive In, Ward played guitar and sang backup vocals, as well as playing piano and keyboards on select songs. He performed lead vocals on one track, entitled "Hourglass".
[edit] Split
When At the Drive-In parted ways due to creative differences in 2001, Jim Ward recruited most of its former members, apart from Omar and Cedric who created The Mars Volta, while adding hometown friend Matt Miller on bass to form the band Sparta. At the Drive-In's breakup apparently bruised his friendship with Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez as stated in an interview for MTV.
[edit] Sparta
They soon released an EP, entitled Austere, and followed with their first album Wiretap Scars. However on May 25th, 2003, he endured the tragic loss of his cousin, Jeremy Ward, who was then performing as "sound manipulator" for Rodriguez-Lopez' and Bixler-Zavala's band, The Mars Volta. Jeremy's death is considered to be the inspiration for Sparta's album, "Porcelain" (particularly the song "Travel by Bloodline").
Ward prefers Gibson guitars with a Welsh flag emblazoned on the scratch plate (This was because he traced his family back to Wales) and Park amplifiers although in some Sparta video's he has been seen using Orange amplifiers.
[edit] Side Projects
He has an alternative country sideproject called SleeperCar, where he also plays guitar and sings lead vocals. Jim has appeared on the compilation album "My Favourite Song Writers" with the track "These Years".
Jim Ward has a musical side project with Bobby Byrd, a nationally recognized poet and publisher from El Paso, Texas. Jim writes the music behind Byrd's spoken poetry. http://www.myspace.com/howwillweknow
Jim Ward also writes for the El Paso weekly alternative magazine What's Up, in a column entitled "From the End of this Pen".
"Jim Ward is a member of Sparta, but above all, a die-hard El Pasoan."
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