Mark Ward

Spokane singer/songwriter Mark Ward's influences are unsurprising: Iron and Wine, Jose Gonzalez, Elliot Smith, Jeff Buckley (the latter two being givens for anyone with a guitar, regardless of sensibility) and that other M. Ward.
The surprises come when you listen to cuts off his forthcoming EP "Broken." You hear elements from all those people, heritage songs forms; a steady chug of drums; a particular whispery moan. It's all solidly crafted and pleasant.
Then you get to the song "Sunlight" and the thing just opens up like an epiphany. "The darkness that lies/ deep down inside/ will someday die." He assures, "The tears in your eyes/ that make you go blind/ will dry up with the reasons why." That shit's goosebump-inducing, one song carrying the incandescent crackle of a young songwriter taking the lens of his musical idols and tuning upon himself, finding something sad, hopeful and unique.

-Luke Baumgarten-
- The Pacific Northwest Inlander

It shouldn’t be a surprise at this point. Mark Ward has proven — more than proven — that he’s worth a damn in the last few years. But despite knowing that fact, I wasn’t quite prepared for what I heard from Through the Dark, the songwriter’s latest album. It’s a dreamy thing, skillfully wrought from the fire of a delicate heart. Ward is gripped by optimism and hope here — bobbing and weaving in and out of light and dark metaphors across the entire record.

Through the Dark, it seems, documents Ward’s search for the bright spots: the beacons of light hidden inside of us; some warm patches of sunshine to lie in. Ward, as a singer, breathes light and life into these songs. He’s a bright-eyed, clear-headed vocalist. But also the antithesis of a show-boater: When Ward leads a song, he does it unobtrusively. He never sings over his band but amongst it, his vocals warmly wrapped in a tapestry of sound. Through the Dark is a star-flecked summer sky, and Ward is the shooting star blazing across it. - The Inlander