It takes a special artist to bridge the gap between The White Stripes, My Morning Jacket, and Norah Jones, and apparently M. Ward is that man. Ward has opened for all of these acts in the past two years, and has somehow managed to appeal to all of their audiences. His wonderful album Post-War met with universal acclaim upon release, ending up on best of '06 lists from The Onion, Paste, The Guardian, and even People and Entertainment Weekly. Go figure. The record takes Ward's folky, warm style into stereophonic widescreen, using a full band where he had previously gone for subtle acoustics. The resulting album was both accessible and full of lyrical and musical depth, with a Daniel Johnston cover and some wonderful guest spots from both Neko Case and Jim James thrown in for good measure. He'll play those songs and others to a crowd of 5,000 at The Backyard next weekend in a supporting slot on Norah Jones' summer tour. We recently spoke with M. Ward about his future plans, compliments from Oasis, and the wonders of working with Neko and Cat Power.

Is it tough to translate your music from the usual large club shows to the huge venues on the Norah Jones tour?

Well, so far so good. The people who come to see Norah Jones in general are ready to listen to music, as opposed to audiences who go to see shows 'cause they are ready to have a party.

In addition to counting Norah as a fan, you have Neko Case doing harmonies on your Post-War album and have also worked with Cat Power. Was it intimidating to sing and play with Neko or Chan? (We think they have the best voices in music right now.)

It's always a little intimidating at first - but the artists I get to work with are in the music business because they love to make music. So anything outside of that focus dissolves away pretty fast. I'm very fortunate to get to work with singers like Neko.

The production and richness of your backing music changed pretty dramatically between Transistor Radio and Post-War. Have you enjoyed having a larger "sonic canvas" to work with for the live dates?

Yeah - I wanted the Post-War record to feel more grounded than anything I've ever done. Part of the idea of Transistor Radio was to try to recreate the memories I had of radio. I wanted this new record to look into the future - and I wanted to make it wider and brighter.

You've been touring this record for the better part of a year now. Will you go into hiding soon to (a) vacation or (b) write and record again?

My plan is to do both of these things, but we will see how it goes. I just finished a record in collaboration with Zooey Deschanel that I'm excited for the world to hear. I'll be doing some work in support of that project soon.

What attracts you to creating "vintage" sounds on your albums? One thing people love to mention about both you and our Texas neighbor Sam Beam of Iron and Wine is that you both purposefully work in older folk sounds and scratchiness to your music, so we'd love to get your thoughts on that.

I'm not entirely sure of the answer to this question, but I think it has something to do with decisions I have made in chord progressions, tempos, and choosing analog over digital in the production process. I believe the art of recording reached a pinnacle at Sun Studios in the 50's and the digital revolution that we now find ourselves in will be seen as "the dark ages of sound recording" in a not-too-distant era. But the biggest reason why any hypothetical person would say this stuff I make sounds "vintage" is because they want to hear something that's vintage in their lives - vintage is in the eye of the beholder.

What did you make of Oasis' Noel Gallagher saying that Post-War was "one of the best albums he'd ever heard?" We thought he hated everyone except The Beatles and The Jam!

Ha! Well, I'm not sure what my immediate reaction was. I was probably just thinking "that's a nice thing to say."

Like Seattle or Athens, Austin has a reputation as a musician's town. How have your experiences been with shows and people in our city?

Texas is a breeding ground for some of the best music the world has ever seen. And Austin seems like the city that is most aware of its heritage - so it is always a pleasure to be back.

M. Ward plays The Backyard on Friday, June 15th supporting Norah Jones. Tickets are available now.

[M. Ward Official Site]
[M. Ward MySpace]

Image via tammylo on Flickr.