Rick Ward

THIS IS MY BIO.

My name is Rick Ward. I was born in HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI where I lived till the age of 14. The family then moved to ERATH, LOUISIANA. A small town south of LAFAYETTE in the heart of Cajun Country.

This is where it all started.



Drums have been in my heart and soul all my life. I have given up much and lost much in the pursuit of a career as a musician.

That being said I would not change one thing.

I did what most musicians do starting out. Played in many cover bands. The first of which was formed in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1981. Yes that is correct. It was my very first drumming gig. Although, it did not last long because our family moved back to the States,(oil field brat) it was still awesome. From there it was pretty much as usual. From '83 to '87 I had the pleasure to jam with many great musicians in and around my home state of Louisiana. Several of whom went on to have outstanding careers in the music business worldwide.

In 1988 I recorded my first album with a band called Corinthian at Southlake Studios in New Orleans, LA. It was an incredible experience. At that point I knew that I had to do this for a living no matter what.

In 1989 we moved the band(Corinthian) to Austin, TX. in search of that BIG BREAK. For me, that is when everything broke loose. From there I went on to be in bands with some of the best musicians in Austin. Such as.

ROCKIN' HORSE, PALACE COOP, HANOVER FIST, HEAVY BROTHER, and most notably ONYXX(featuring Teri Tims). I was lucky enough to recorded in some of the biggest studios in Austin, TX. I worked with producers that I had only read about on the backs of album's and CD's. It was truly amazing. I am very honored to have been associated with so many great people. You know who you are and I thank you.

In 1994 things had all but come to a halt in the music industry unless you wore flannel and hated anything and everything about your life. Am I little bitter, maybe.

But life goes on, and so it did. At that point I moved to Houston, TX. to jam with some friends, unfortunately it did not work out. However, I did go on to broaden my horizons playing country for a couple of years with TONY MICHEALS and THE PEACE MAKERS.

THIS IS WHERE IT REALLY GETS INTERESTING.

In 1996 I joined MIDNIGHT CIRCUS. We put out two albums.

(MIDNIGHT CIRCUS, EASY to SWALLOW) played countless shows. From headlining our own shows to opening for Poison, Motley Crue, Scorpions, Ratt, Great White, Enuff-Znuff, Ted Nugent, Brett Micheals just to name a few. Our live show were legendary, featuring everything from blow up dolls(of all kinds) to clowns(real and fake), dancing girls, pyro and confetti cannons, adult themed balloon drops, adult themed stage props and anything else we could think up. It was awesome but, as all things do, it came to an end in 2003.

In 2004 I was asked to join DISTANT THUNDER(featuring James Rivera of HelStar, MIKE LePOND of SYMPHONY-X, Eric Halpern of Z-LOT-Z and Gregg Gill of Z-LOT-Z). Truly an awesome band.

We put out one album"WELCOME THE END" on MASSACRE RECORDS. It was produced by JACK FROST (SEVEN WITCHES/EX-SAVATAGE). We also filmed two videos for MTV Europe and a DVD featuring live and studio footage. However, the band was short lived. None the less it was a great experience.

In that same year(2004) I joined AZRAEL'S BANE, who I am still honored to be a member of today. Azrael's Bane has allowed me to push my ability to its extreme. Being a POWER/PROG band the music we write gives me a chance to do what I love.

PLAY DOUBLE BASS! We have two CD's"WINGS OF INNOCENCE" and

"MODERN DAY BABYLON". We have played from New York to L.A. from Canada to Mexico. Playing famous venues such as CBGB's and THE WHISKEY A GO-GO, to massive festivals such as the MONTERREY METAL FEST, MONTERREY MEX. to

the largest annual music festival in the U.S. ROCKLAHOMA.

In 2005, as fate would have it, MIDNIGHT CIRCUS was offered a record deal. What? How could that be? We had not played together in over a year. It was true. A large independent company, PERRIS RECORDS, had somehow got a hold of a demo of our last recording session. They loved it and wanted to put it out. So we decided to give it another go. We staged the biggest come back reunion show ever in Houston, TX. It turned out to be more than we could have hoped for. The CD sold well all over the world, even having our single "Only One" reaching number 1 on the charts in Barcelona, Spain. It was a great time. It lasted till May of 2008 when we did our final show.

In June of 2008, tired of the city life, my wife and I moved to a nice quite small town in Missouri. In that time I continued to do gigs with Azrael's Bane. Flying in when ever we had a show.

In January of 2009 I was asked to join the solo band of

RONNY MUNROE(former vocalist of METAL CHURCH) one of the best, in my opinion, metal vocalist in the world.

The band also consists of.MIKE HEALD(guittar), and my band mates from Azrael's Bane, JEFF CLIFTON(guitar), BRENT MARCHES(bass). I have always been a huge Metal Church fan, so this is a tremendous honor for me. At this time RONNY'S solo album"THE FIRE WITHIN" and video for the single"DELIRIUM" are taking the world by storm.

In May of 2009 GOD entered my life again through my savior JESUS CHRIST. My amazing wife(Daphane) and I were baptized together at our church, (MEADOW HEIGHTS CHURCH, ARCADIA VALLEY).

In all of my travels, playing to thousands of people, nothing brings as much joy to me as playing the drums for our church's praise and worship music team. Everyone on the team is outstanding, all forty eight of them.

My life has changed in so many ways. I give God all the praise and the glory for the talent and the amazing life he has given me.

In November of 2009 I was asked to join THE HOPE ENDEAVOR, (T.H.E.), a Christian band featuring members of the Meadow Heights music team. I look forward to many, many shows and recording sessions with them.

That is a look into my life.

Thank you GOD for giving me such a great gift. So that I may use it to bring joy to others in some small way.



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