ZZ Ward, who has taken her appreciation for the nation’s earliest music and given it a modern, popular voice, will perform at Lake Tahoe this summer.
The 30-year-old, who combines blues and hip-hop, will open for Lenny Kravitz on Friday, July 14, at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys. The 8 p.m. concert follows the opening round of the celebrity golf tournament held across the street at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.
Ward recently released her second full-length album, “The Storm.”
She grew up in Roseburg, Oregon, and honed her singing and entertaining skills busking on sidewalks with a harmonica and guitar. In 2012, she moved to Los Angeles where she slept in on an air mattress and sold demo CDs from parking lots. She has risen to prominence and has played most of the late-night network programs. She debuted at Lake Tahoe in April 2014.
She not only has the work ethic of a blues singer, she knows the history, too.
“I grew up listening to Etta James and Big Mama Thornton, Tina Turner when she would sing the blues,” Ward told Tahoe Onstage before here 2014 show in the South Shore Room. “I heard her singing with Ike and she was singing the blues and I was absolutely blown away.
“I was inspired a lot by real strong female vocalists, women who had a lot of power, a lot of emotion in their voice. Later on I was inspired by a singer named Vera Ward Hall. I like back-porch bluesy stuff. Real old stuff.”
Tickets prices range from $55 to $128 and are on sale at Ticketmaster and Another Planet Entertainment.
Third Eye Blind will play Sunday, July 16, after the 2017 American Century Championship winner is crowned.
Harveys outdoor shows during the celebrity golf tournament typically sell out in advance.
