But the songs are as dense as truffles; the bittersweet kind, with stories of love and loss and trying to heal, and accepting someone for who he is.

Consider a few of the titles: “It’s You For Me,” “Maybe,” “Now You’re Gone,” “Die of a Broken Heart.” The heartbreak can feel like too much, but Ward’s voice is nice way to pass through it. It is tender and pained, then strong against the wind; something she uses to keep herself company in the darkest places, and then talk herself into the light.

Ward has been busy since her 2008 album, “Drive Away,” hit. She has built a following and spent time with Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Not long ago, she took “a total shot in the dark” and invited Lucinda Williams to a gig in Los Angeles. She showed.

“I don’t know if there’s some karmic thing where I am meeting all my idols,” said Ward, who will host a CD release party at the Tractor Tavern on Friday. “The more honest the music is getting, the more good things are coming.”

Nicole Brodeur, Seattle Times columnist

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Charles

on April 6 and will be playing a pair of CD release shows this weekend.

The first CD release show for Charles will be on Friday April 9 at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle, and then the next night, Ward and her band will be playing in Portland at the White Eagle.

Produced by Brad Zeffren and Ward (her first time producing), Charles was recorded in a 1970s-esque apartment. “We wanted to do something really different,” Ward said in her press release. “And that’s what we got, a much more intimate record.”

Ward is once again joined by her right-hand man, writing partner and Seattle guitar extraordinaire Gary Westlake. The two combined to play all the instruments save for the trumpet solo by Billy Joe Huels (The Dusty 45′s.)

“The album is a product of my life and could be properly expressed through the very close musical connection I share with Gary,” Ward said. “Gary and I worked on some of those songs for months – some for years.”

Charles is the follow up to Ward’s phenomenal 2008 release Drive Away and with this third release, Ward, along with Westlake, incorporates a more alt-country feel thanks in part to varied string instruments like the acoustic and electric gutiar and mandolin. The songs shine brightly up and down the track selection with Ward singing more confident than ever.

I don’t know if the album is titled after a person named Charles or what, but whatever the case, the inspiration has made Kirsten Ward shimmer and sparkle on this magnificently intimate release.

Troy Michael – Innocent Words, April 8, 2010

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Kristen Ward can’t help but smile when mentioning her co-production effort alongside Seattle producer Brad Zeffren to make her most recent album, “Charles”.  The album was recorded entirely in a 70’s era Seattle apartment and was Ward’s first serious recording experience outside of the big studio. “We wanted to do something really different”, she says, “And that’s what we got, a much more intimate record”.

With the exception of a haunting trumpet solo by Billy Joe Huels (The Dusty 45’s), the record was performed entirely by Kristen Ward and Gary Westlake, her right-hand man and beloved guitarist whose credits include work with Peter Frampton, Maurice and the Clichés, Pearl Jam, and Jim Carroll. “The album is a product of my life and could be properly expressed through the very close musical connection I share with Gary”, Ward says.  “Gary and I worked on some of those songs for months. Some for years”.

In 2009, Kristen and her band were moving full-steam ahead through the pre-production of “Last Night on Division”, Ward’s much anticipated rock record. The record was to be her third, but things took a sudden turn.  Ward shrugs, “ I suppose there were some things I needed to get out.  Some things I had to say before I could do a rock record, and I’m glad for it”.

“Charles”, the dreamy and evocative follow-up to Ward’s 2008 sophomore release, “Drive Away”, makes you feel as if you have stepped into a different world altogether. The record channels a certain nostalgia through shimmering acoustic guitars, mandolin and low-twang electric tones.  The album’s sparkling centerpiece is undoubtedly Kristen Ward’s voice with all of its power, aching emotion and beauty. The sound is utterly mesmerizing in it’s elegant simplicity. “Charles” is a major artistic step forward for Ward. Powerful themes of love and longing wind together with Ward’s natural and deeply visceral song writing style to create what is the most relevant and important piece to her already powerful musical repertoire.

Released 2010

1. It’s You For Me

2. Maybe

3. San Sebastian Del Oeste

4. Now You’re Gone

5. Die Of A Broken Heart

6. Blue River Man

7. How To Love Me

Released 2008

1. Baby

2. Loneliness

3. With You Again

4. Shoot Me Down

5. Drive Away

6. All Alone

7. Red Roses

8. Good Time Man

9. Faith

10. Let Me Go

11. I Want To Go Home

Released 2006

1. Best I Can

2. Some Time Ago

3. Roll Me On

4. Lowdownville

5. Why Don’t He Love Me?

6. Dark Night Of The Soul

7. Little Gun

8. 1974

9. Cheatin’ Mind

10. Clean As Coal

11. Night After Night

12. Lovin’ You