ZZ Ward – City Winery – Philadelphia (A PopEntertainment.com Concert Review)

ZZ Ward – City Winery – Philadelphia, PA – March 16, 2025

What does ZZ Ward have in common with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis? Her latest CD Liberation has just been released on Sun Records, the legendary Memphis label which once upon a time discovered the members of the million-dollar quartet.

Ward jokingly admitted that she didn’t even realize that the label was still active when they contacted her about releasing the album, which she had originally planned on putting out on her own Dirty Shine label.

The Liberation album is a bit of a contradiction in terms – a rocky blues album about motherhood. Ward has had two children in the last few years; one of four and the other is one-year-old, so it was definitely a subject that intrigued her.

On the fourth show of the Liberation tour, Ward returned to the area she was from – she reminded the audience that she was born in the nearby suburb of Abington, and her mother grew up in Fishtown. (Her family moved west to Oregon when she was a girl.) In fact, Ward has generally made Philadelphia one of the first stops on her last several tours, so this was no huge surprise that she came here so early on. It was her first appearance at the Philly City Winery, which she said from the stage was a really nice venue.

The show opened with a couple of blues covers from the new album (she has also been doing these songs live for a few years.) First off was “My Baby Left Me,” a heartbreak blues song originally recorded by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and which was later covered by the diverse likes of Elvis Presley, Wanda Jackson, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Buffy Sainte-Marie, John Lennon, Loggins & Messina, Elton John and Slade. Then came a rambling cover of the Robert Johnson / Elmore James standard “Dust My Broom.”

Soon Ward had zoomed into some of her own sultry favorites, including “Let It Burn,” “I Have No One” and “Cannonball.” She showed her vulnerability with the wonderful folk lament “If I Could Be Her,” which was sort of an updated take on the themes of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”

Ward also took hard-eyed looks at the world of motherhood with the title track from “Liberation,” “Mother” and the encore tune “Naked in the Jungle.”

ZZ Ward keeps moving on musically, but her wonderful retro vibe makes her a perfect fit for her new (old) record label. (Sun also recently signed up gospel rock and soul artist Robert Randolph.)

ZZ Ward reminded us the other night that she belongs in the company of the classic artists discovered by Sam Phillips before her parents were probably even born. She may be a pretty blonde woman, but she’s got the blues in her soul.

Jay S. Jacobs