H! Everyone.

I have been trying to come to terms with putting my thoughts and experiences of 2010 onto paper, and sadly, on the Eve of Christmas, I find myself exhausted from the sheer weight of life on life’s terms. To recall anything positive is arduous without bumping into the loss and lingering sadness I’ve felt over those who have died this year, and of most recently, my wife’s father, Richard. It’s difficult to smile when you’re not smiling inside.

However, melancholy aside, I have much to be grateful for. I’m alive, sober, and surrounded by loving people, children, animals and the critters that live outside the house. I feel blessed to still have a roof over my head and a fire in the hearth. I think a lot of you know already that for a while in 1983, I lost and ran away from most of which I just spoke of, asking for spare change to buy a drink and walking aimlessly through dismal streets. The pickings of my days were most ungratifying.

In 2010, I’ve tried to be very patient with my ongoing projects, which at times seem trapped by circumstances beyond human control. Frustrations erupt as we move slowly towards finishing points, only to be stopped again by another unforeseen event. I, along with my colleagues, have been painstaking in the workplace. We have actually accomplished much in PR, documentaries, book interviews and multimedia opportunities, etc., etc. Some of the biggest projects are still slightly out of reach. I’m OK knowing we came as far as we could before Christmas loomed and demanded attention.

This year, I’ve tried to do the “right thing,” and I hope I haven’t stood in the path of someone else’s life flow. I have continuously lowered my expectations of what I think I deserve or what I want. I’ve especially focused on what I think America, my wife, my friends, my kids or God ought to do for me. I’ve pretty much had to surrender each day to “reality,” whether I like it or not, and again, I keep the expectations surrendered. It’s hard work, especially when there are a lot of challenges heading straight for me. It works out eventually – it all works out.

Watching America, Britain, and many other countries get their ass kicked even more this year has been a heartbreak. So many are hurting – beautiful people – it’s all very sad. If “now” is a modern saviour, then I hope it’ll save the countless who are living up the road and round the corner ten years from now in order to maintain their “security.” It’s a tough lesson – “financial security” will let us down every time; from time to time, it’ll let us down, and if you’re in the memories of the good old days or when life was much better, then make an attempt to find “now” because surely you will perish in “yesterday.”

I have to remember to kiss someone who needs kissing today, hold someone who needs holding today, and if I eat, I’ll remember to say thank you and be grateful. I think compassion, hope today, surrender and forgiveness are a part of love, and love is a true, positive energy source, even for the most fragile amongst us. Love is a survivor; love pulls us through. We all have the components that create love; some like me have to dig a little deeper to allow love to flourish. I hope you will find love, and I hope it will serve you well and bring laughter and joy back to you. Hold love close to your heart because surely we will continue to face another reality-biting new year.

As always, I raise my glass of water, and I wish you all happiness and health and love in 2011.

Stay safe. Stay Strong.

–Bill Ward

Last month Bill made an appearance on the Classic Rock & Metal Podcast, talking about his 40 years since Paranoid‘s release, how he views life after his drink and drug problems, plus his solo projects and the possibility of a Sabbath reunion.

Head over to the CRMP website to listen to the show online.

A couple of weeks ago, Bill Ward’s episode of “That Metal Show” aired on VH1 Classic. If you missed it, you can view the entire episode online. We have a streaming version of the episode available for you to play right here:

Additionally, this Saturday night the 11th is the season finale of “That Metal Show”. The final episode of each series is called “Scrap Metal”. This is where they take clips and bits from the episodes that made up the most recent series that didn’t quite make the cut, and use them there. While we do not know precisely what content will be in “Scrap Metal”, it’s worth tuning in, as some unaired Bill Ward footage is likely to be shown. The initial showing is 11PM Eastern Time, and there are several re-runs over the next few days, so if you miss the first one, you can re-catch it.

As we’ve been telling you, Bill’s appearance on That Metal Show is on Saturday night at 11PM Eastern Time the 20th. The folks from VH1 Classic were kind enough to send over this video clip of Bill from the show. Check it out:

Bill has recently completed filming his appearance on the VH1 Classic show, “That Metal Show”, hosted by Eddie Trunk.

Bill’s episode will air on November 20th, 2010 at 11PM Eastern Time here in the US.

Also appearing on that episode will be Danzig, as well as Richie Kotzen. Bill will have a lot to say, and when we have a more specific content preview, we’ll bring it to you. But we wanted to alert you to the airdate of Bill’s episode as soon as we knew it!

Shockwaves Skull Sessions Episode #42:

On this episode Skullsessions returning guests Monte Conner (VP of A&R for Roadrunner Records) and legendary Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward, along with newcomer to the Skullsessions and thrash-metal drummer extraordinaire Gene Hoglan (Fear Factory/ Deathclock), join Skullsessions host Bob Nalbandian on this astounding and diverse conversation about modern-metal bands, the art of drumming and the use of dynamics, the metal music business of today, modern recording techniques vs. analog, the great John Bonham and much, much more!

Check out the podcast and listen to Bill at this link!

To celebrate the launch of Bill’s new Twitter feed and his new Facebook fan page, we’ve decided to give away some autographed copies of Bill’s 1997 album, “When the Bough Breaks”.  This is a pretty simple contest, all you have to do is either be following Bill on Twitter, or have “liked” his Facebook page.

We will pick five random folks from each service, and they will win the autographed CD.   We will contact you on those services for details afterwards.   Additionally, Bill will personalize the autographs to you, so it won’t be just him signing his name.

To make sure you’re eligible, sign up for these services and like/follow Bill.   If you want to double your chances, hook up with both of them!  Please note you can’t win on both services, so if for some reason you’d get randomly picked on both, you’d only win one.  🙂   The contest will run for one week, and will close next week June 18th.

Here are the details in case you need them:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/billwarddrums
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bill-Ward/109213359124333

Thanks for checking out Bill’s site, and good luck to all!

There’s two things you as a fan of this website should know. First are some new photos of Bill in the studio over the last couple of years. Some are from behind a kit, and some are behind a board.   Here’s a few samples..

These two photos (and all of them in the newly released gallery) were taken by Christopher Wagner.    You can see all of them over at our new Facebook page.   That’s right, Bill is now on Facebook.   If you are too, and want to check out the photo gallery, or “like” Bill, the Facebook link is this:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bill-Ward/109213359124333

Likewise, Bill is also on Twitter.  You can reach Bill there at this URL:

http://www.twitter.com/billwarddrums

My wife and I would like to send our heartfelt condolences to Paul Gray’s family and friends. Our condolences also extend to each member of Slipknot. We wish everyone who knew Paul love, tolerance and eventual peace of mind.

Paul played in an incredible band. He was an incredible bass player. His death is another big loss for metal music, but his spirit and his love will forever ascend and teach.

Thanks for the music, Paul.

Bill & Bird Ward

Bill recently did a couple of interviews with a few magazines, and we want to make sure you see them, as there’s some cool stuff to read.

First up is an interview with ‘Sup Magazine.  This one is titled “Invasion Meets Sabbath“, and covers a wide range of topics from the much trodden ground of Sabbath’s beginning to the kind of tunes that Bill listens to and is into today.  It was originally conducted in the Summer of 2009.  Here’s a bit from that interview:

I’d agree that Metallica definitely picked up your baton in 1983 and they and Black Sabbath are easily the best metal bands ever for me. It feels to me there are lots of good new bands who understand what you were about back in the ‘70s, and I think that the next decade is going to be really exciting for metal. I guess Geezer wrote a lot of your lyrics, but you had this power and intensity. Where did you pick that up from?

Bill: Part of it came from our predecessors. There were great bands in the ‘60s. A lot of bands were referencing flower power and peace. I want to make it clear that I’m not being negative about that whole movement, but we were from Aston and there wasn’t much of a hippie era going on there. At least 50 percent of our day was spent looking at the guy across the street to see if he was going to run over and kick you in the head. That was our reality.

There still is a sense of counter culture in there though “Sweet Leaf” and “Children Of The Grave” and other antiwar songs.

Bill: Well, we were pissed off, you know? “Sweet Leaf” is a very aggressive song when we do it live. “Sweet Leaf” and “Iron Man” were the rallying points for all the young men coming back from Vietnam. And when I think about it– to be quite honest with you, Marek–I start to cry because life is precious and I can still see the audiences when we played those songs. All the vets were up the front, so all we could see were the vets. When those songs came on, they were trying to get out of their wheelchairs. They came to hear those songs. We’d give them our all. They were men that didn’t want to go to war. They were pushed into it and nobody thanked them when they came back.

The second of the interviews is a new interview from February of 2010 with the “Stay Thirsty Media” site.   This interview, entitled “Never Say Die!” has some tidbits which will be of particular interest to fans.  Here’s some tidbits to whet your appetite.

THIRSTY: What are you currently involved in musically? Does the Bill Ward Band still participate in the modern music scene?

BW: Oh yea! This year I’ve worked nonstop. I’m in the process of finishing up three albums, which are ALL my albums. When I write songs, I usually write everything (tracks), so I compose in guitar, bass, keyboards, melody arrangements, the vocals…just everything really. So I’m really active inside my own music…

THIRSTY: And how about playing live? Has the Bill Ward Band, or any other projects you may be affiliated scheduled an upcoming tour?

BW: I haven’t played live at all in a long time. The last time I played live was with ‘The Sabs’ (Black Sabbath) which was about four years ago. I’ve been really active in the studio, writing and spending time with a lot of musicians.

THIRSTY: On these upcoming albums, are you the sole musician or do you have a group accompanying you on the tracks?

BW: When I say I write, I write the parts and so forth, but I have other players that play the music. On the newest work, that’s coming out in the spring, Keith Lynch (Bill Ward Band veteran) is playing guitar. Paul Ill is playing some bass and then I have a couple of other guys that will play bass as well. Paul’s also from early years of the Bill Ward Band. And then I have my own drummer, Ronnie Ciago who’s playing on several tracks. I’m playing drums on several tracks too, so it’s pretty much a band album if you’d like. There are some guests coming onto the following two albums after the spring one, but it’s all under wraps right now [laughs]. They’re rock and rollers man…so they agreed to do it but now let’s get them all together in a room and nail it!

The Thirsty interview also talks about other things too, like Bill’s relationship with Ronnie James Dio, the early days with Tony Iommi in 1966, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, online music piracy, and of course Black Sabbath.   You won’t want to miss this one for sure!

Once there is some more concrete information about these albums (plural!) from Bill, we’ll be sure to pass it on.