Song Spotlight: Katie Ward's Make It Up To You (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

In a pre-Halloween set, Katie Ward brought her jazz composition and vocals to WFNM's showcase at Hotel Ziggy. This was my second time checking out one of her sets. The previous time was at Bar Lubitsch in August. Based on her Instagram account, it would seem she first made her mark in the San Diego jazz scene and has since shifted her attention to playing around Los Angeles at venues such as Gold-Diggers, Hotel Cafe, and the aforementioned venues. 

Katie Ward at Hotel Ziggy

Her set was mostly dedicated to unreleased music. Her first song "Friendly Fire" had one thinking about Norah Jones. From what I can tell, other than her social media, there isn't much out there in Google world about her, but her song "Niland" does give a glimpse about her parents. She mentioned in her August set that her parents' hometown is Niland -- I'm guessing they no longer live there. Per Wikipedia, the town is near the Salton Sea and as of June 2020 was assumed to have a population of around 500. I had to do a little more digging. The town has an elementary school and off to the east is Salvation Mountain.  

Katie Ward at Hotel Ziggy

"Where the Line Is" was introduced as wanting to be a better person. "Joan of Arc" was written because, "She was pretty cool." The set closed out with "Heartland," which is her foray into country music. 

I'd say my favorite songs from the set were "Friendly Fire" and "Niland." Neither are currently released. She has only released two songs via Spotify, one being "Heartland" and another being her 2023 single "Make It Up To You." I'll go with "Make It Up To You" as the song spotlight as it best represents her jazz inspired tunes. Like her song "Where the Line Is," the song is about wanting to be a better person.

Katie Ward at Hotel Ziggy

I know I've been unkind to you
My words have been so poorly chosen
Haven't been myself with you

Setlist: Friendly Fire, Niland, The Game, Where the Line Is, Joan of Arc, Heartland.