Gordon Thomas Ward

SHORT BIO
   Gordon Thomas Ward is a GRAMMY-balloted, award-winning, multidimensional artist who’s taken an unconventional road in his career. A storyteller, who uses music and poetry to mix the ethereal world and the human condition, Gordon can touch your soul like a summer breeze winding through soft cedar branches or a winter Nor’easter battering the coast. Fitting somewhere among the folk rock, Americana, and adult alternative genres, his songs, like the places and the people we love, are beautiful and dramatic in all their seasons. With four albums, five books, four #1 songs, and other compositions that have charted in the U.S. and abroad, he's recorded with notable musicians such as Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, and Mary), ​Kevin Barry (Jackson Browne, James Taylor), Eric Troyer and Mik Kaminski of the Electric Light Orchestra, and shared the stage and billing with Natalie Merchant, Christine Lavin, and Bill Staines. Whispers from the Woods is Gordon’s fourth and most recent album, which was hailed as “a modern-day masterpiece that comes straight from the heart” by Skope Magazine. His music, says Matheson's Entertainment Blog, "Will grab you by the heart and never let go." His fifth studio album Walking on the Wire is due to be released in June of 2024, and the first installment of a children’s literature book series is expected this year, as well.

LONG BIO
   Heavily influenced by his rural roots, and the singer-songwriter, folk rock scene of the 1970s, Gordon Thomas Ward has developed into a GRAMMY-balloted, award-winning, and multidimensional artist who tours as a solo performer. With four albums, five books, and four #1 songs, Gordon's works occupy a space uniquely their own, filled with honesty, emotion, and occasional social commentary.

   Gordon is a storyteller who uses song, prose, and poetry to mix the ethereal world and the human condition in a rarely found, personal, and captivating manner. His listeners and readers travel mystical, historical roads with music that winds through lush, sonic landscapes. Employing his experience as a teacher and radio host, it’s no wonder that Gordon’s fans often praise his mastery of capturing snapshots of life and making them universal, becoming swept up in his stories and melodies as if they are spilling out of their own lives. To that point, Matheson’s Entertainment Blog says Gordon’s music “Will grab you by the heart and never let go,” and Vents Magazine calls his work, "In a word: liberating."

   Musically, his songs fit somewhere among the folk rock, Americana, and adult alternative genres, charting in the Radio Guitar One Acoustic Top 30, Roots Music Report, Folk Music Charts, Euro Indie Music Chart, DRT Global Adult Contemporary Airplay Chart, and the DRT Global Top 150 Country Airplay Chart. He’s recorded with notable musicians such as Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, and Mary), ​Kevin Barry (Jackson Browne, James Taylor), Eric Troyer and Mik Kaminski (Electric Light Orchestra, and The Orchestra), Abbie Gardner, and Jud Caswell. Furthermore, he’s shared the stage and billing with Natalie Merchant, Christine Lavin, and noted singer-songwriter Bill Staines.

   Gordon started writing songs at age fifteen, performing in bands and as a solo artist through college. After becoming a single parent, Gordon was determined to remain a fully engaged father to his children, yet, with his creativity, refusing to be squelched, Gordon used this time to write his books and compose songs.

   Gordon’s first album Welcome to the Past was released in 2013. His celebrated, GRAMMY-balloted record Providence was released on August 30, 2018. Gordon followed that up with the release of his much-anticipated, critically acclaimed, double album titled Eiderdown on May 1, 2020, which has charted as the #1 folk record, both nationally and in Maine, and as the #3 alternative folk record in the nation. Eiderdown also spawned three #1 songs: "Dreams," "Long, Long Ago," and "Just for You." Gordon's fourth and latest album Whispers from the Woods was released on September 1, 2022, charted as the #4 alternative folk album in the nation, and was hailed as “a modern-day masterpiece that comes straight from the heart” by Skope Magazine. It was also nominated by a panel of jurors from around the world for the 6th annual Blues & Roots Radio Worldwide Album of The Year Award. His fifth studio album Walking on the Wire is due to be released in June of 2024, and the first installment of a children’s literature book series is expected this year, as well.

   Gordon has written songs for documentary film, historical events and celebrations, and The United States World War One Centennial Commission. He is a voting member of the Recording Academy and is no stranger to television and radio. He’s performed at many festivals and venues, including several appearances at Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA.

   Not one to fear stepping out of his comfort zone, Gordon's appeared on stage in the performing role of a troubadour in Gioachino Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville and Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II. As an artist interested in social issues, Gordon produced and performed in a Concert Across America to End Gun Violence in 2016 and 2018 and performed at the 5th Annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he's been Artist of the Week on radio, enthusiastically reviewed by prominent music critics, and highlighted in media articles.

   Gordon utilizes a variety of instruments in his shows, which results in a varied spectrum of tonal colors. While he’s comfortable with large festival and theatre crowds, he is equally at home with the more intimate audiences of listening rooms and house concerts.

FOR BOOKINGS, please see the bottom of this page or visit Gordon’s CONTACT PAGE.