Kimberly Ward is a singer-songwriter and piano player out of New Bern, North Carolina, and she's been at the piano since she was a kid — lessons early, school choirs, playing for her church since she was thirteen. She taught piano for eight years, beginners to advanced, before she ever put her own songs in front of people. The music was always the plan; it just took a while to step into the front of the room.

She's been writing lyrics since 2014, twenty-plus songs and counting, eight of them cut in the studio. The sound is multi-genre American music, mostly faith-based songs written to heal and lift people up — not preaching at you, just telling the truth about what she's been through. "Just Want To Be Free" and "Set Me Free" are the ones people keep coming back to, and "Letting Go" is the one that hits the hardest.

She's not a bedroom laptop act. She travels to Nashville to record and perform — there's a live video of her singing from Mystixx Studio — and she shoots her own music videos, piano and all.

She co-wrote "Every Moment," which singer Joan Burton also released, and she co-wrote the country-gospel track "Going to Be Okay" with Levi Coby, who sings on it alongside her. Her "Christmas in Berne" is a hometown nod to New Bern's sister city. She plays select dates in the Asheville Airport Music program too, right where travelers are coming and going.

The industry's noticed — she's been an ISSA nominee and finalist several years running, up for USA Female Vocalist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and Emerging Artist, plus World Songwriting Awards and the Elite Music Awards. But the real story is simpler: a piano teacher from a small Carolina town who writes songs that help people breathe a little easier.

Kimberly Ward writes the way she plays piano — straight from the heart, no shortcuts. A real songwriter, a real singer, and a woman who's lived every word she sings. That's exactly who belongs here. Welcome to The Hub Kimberly!

- Rob | The INDIE Musician