Meet Lauren Ruth Ward

We recently connected with Lauren Ruth Ward and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren Ruth, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

“I will continue to create from a desire to connect to myself and my listeners, not from a desire to achieve the industry’s standard of success.” Most days, this mantra is as easy as breathing. But occasionally, it feels like I’m sacrificing oxygen to stay true.
When my self expression contradicts following viral formulas, I face joining the “whatever happened to them?” club. Answer: I’m living my best life! Still creating art from a place of truth, thanks to my fans’ participation on Patreon, Bandcamp, Undertow Touring, and an art-forward UK indie label called VERO Music.
Like many of us, the relationship to ourselves and our supporters is and always will be our true north when creating. But as long as I am lucky enough to have fans on DSPs, and any level of industry support, I create by checking in not only on what is meaningful to me and my fans, but also to the music industry.
My spiritual work has taught me that if I can hold these three elements as equal parts, contradictions and all, then my vision for what’s possible will expand. And it does, and I’m reminded of what is sacred which ignites innovation. “I’ve seen what’s behind the curtain, and I’m going to let it fuel my creativity, not water it down, or make me a cynic” – a declaration I scribbled in my journal nine months ago.
Thanks to truth-tellers like Kate Nash, who spoke up about the reality that even as an established artist who sells out every show, she loses about $10-50k per tour due to unfair artist earnings in the growing ticketing economy, and Jack White, who called on mega labels to build their own vinyl plants to reduce inflation and long wait times for indie folks.. I don’t have to be the one to break the news that these last reliable ways for artists to live off their art (ie, touring and merch) have approached their untimely deaths.
Or have they? Maybe it’s not death, but evolution.
As credited above, Undertow, a company led by just a few folks, help fans host shows for their favorite artists by fielding submissions of unconventional spaces, and yes, I would FUCKING LOVE to play in your living room / yoga studio / garden – please submit here! It’s these donated spaces that shape the tour’s geographic route. Fair ticketing is done by charging fans only the ticket’s base price ($15-$25) plus a $0.70 processing fee – *this part* is very important to me. After Undertow takes a small percentage, akin to a booking agents, the rest goes directly to the artist – and *this part* is the shift that is needed for the non-top-40’s musicians to carry on carrying on. Math, these intimate 40-60 person shows in rural towns, can earn a touring artist (like me) 2 – 3 times more than what a traditional 200-400 capacity venue can offer right now. It didn’t used to be like this, but here we are! So back to the fun stuff.. As an avid show goer myself, I go to see artists i want to support, so naturally, I would love it if more than only 15% of what I’m paying to see said artist to.. ya know, go to that artist. But unfortunately, most of what you’re paying goes to the folks who invented “services fees”. And as an artist, I will never agree that I should quit just because my fanbase isn’t in the zillions, so that I have the leverage to negotiate how much my ticket’s services fees are, and how much I get to keep – like Taylor, 85%, get it sis.
“How much will my fans pay in service fees?” – a question that the kind folks on the venue side of my emails usually can’t answer. It’s treated as non-negotiable, a moot point. So I confirm the show, then click on my own ticket to check out, only to see a service fee that’s often equal to, or even more than, the price of the ticket itself. Thank you, Live Nation, for stepping in to save these small local clubs during the pandemic… I just didn’t read the fine print on what that would actually mean.
Powerful alternatives like Undertow wouldn’t exist, or need to, without asking questions and acknowledging the uncomfortable. Truth leads innovation, uncomfortable truth, becomes the seed for reinvention. So in discomfort and curiosity, I sat with the music industry’s limitations, and my own. My spiritual teacher, Diana Zaheer, calls me a “truth warrior.” A term drapes on me like a cape of acceptance every time I hear it. Herein lies my tie-in. My contributions to this body of work, my song meanings, lyrics, melodies, co-production, handmade offerings, this tour, and all the ways I intend to distribute these transmissions, started from seeing as much truth as possible, and using it as the sacred tool it is. A tool that if sought, never fails to roast the shit out of me, then lovingly carry me to my next chapter. I’ve named this calling back to self ritual “time to take my medicine”. So naturally, I named this album and tour, Medicine.
Song titles, mantras, and other powerful ways I’m cultivating a sustainable life as an artist, through community and alternative paths, below. Thank you for reading! Now take your medicine :
The Medicine EP follows an arc of self-discovery – from inner reckoning, to embodying truth, to outward impact. Each of the six song titles represents an archetype, a waypoint of awareness, and a guiding mantra. While the stories that create these songs are drawn from intimate turning points of my own spiritual discoveries, I offer them only as mirrors. My hope is that listeners feel invited to connect with the transmissions of these archetypes and mantras, using them as tools to support their own quest of becoming.
Archetype 1. Love Goggles
Mantra : See your raw truth. Accept your limitations. Find their source, and be accountable for the part you’ve played. This is the initiation. An honest reckoning and the first essential step toward transformation. It begins the journey with radical honesty and personal responsibility.
Artwork : I chose a photograph I took of moss, a plant that thrives in darkness, just as our deepest truths often do. Moss is a quiet marker of time, found on ruins and remnants, growing steadily where light is scarce. In various native cultures, it’s seen as a symbol of the emotional realm, memory and intuition. I added handdrawn 60’s-esk bubble-like letters for these first three tracks as a nod to some of the sonic choices made, ei. the deadend drum tones.

Archetype 2. Loved Lost And Loved Again (out 6/20)
Mantra : Befriend your past, and others’ pasts. Cleanse away learned shame. Establish your own rules. Turn off outside judgment. Tune into your moral compass. From truth comes softening, healing, and a redefinition of your inner code. This is the stage of healing and reorientation, where you release old conditioning and begin to trust yourself.
Artwork : I photographed a bundle of chamomile, drawn to its known calming properties. Chamomile is a natural healer, gently soothing the nervous system and inviting us into rest. It reminds us that softness can be medicine, and that quietude holds power.
Music Video : Multiple seasons of tour footage carefully curated, never seen. A montage of experiencing one of my greatest passions, the exciting, the painful, the real, akin to the toss, turns, and softnesses of relationships. Shot from my POV, and through the eyes of my partner, who was a tour new comer. Edit by me, first time.

Archetype 3. Please Never Contact Me Again
Mantra : A farewell spell to the seduction of the “fight.” Leaving yourself is what holds you back. Inner friendship, outer compassion. This is letting go. Releasing resistance and the ego’s need for control, while choosing gentleness and deeper connection with self and others.
Artwork : A cluster of succulent-like flowers blooming on a gravestone I took at Père-Lachaise, Paris, France, a few plots down from Jim’s. I’m a huge Doors fan. These flowers, life emerging from death, beauty born from the bones of what once was, artists creating from Morisson inspiration. Art giving to art, a sacred cycle.

Archetype 4. Slow Down
Mantra : Indulge in awareness practices. See this world that is fighting for your attention as a tool to strengthen your individuality, not an invitation to detach from it. This is cultivation. Turning distraction into discipline and using the outer world as a mirror to sharpen your presence and essence.
Artwork : A raw self-portrait of my white dots, my “war paint.” A visual declaration of individuality, ritual, and reclamation. Alive and aware.

Archetype 5. Camouflage Sabotage (out August)
Mantra : Unveil. Be seen. Somatic levity. From clarity and strength, you embody your truth with lightness and presence. This is what it means to show up fully, with grace, ease, and confidence.
Artwork : Embodiment high. Taken by Cher Russo, Fire Island, New York.

Archetype 6. Pansexual
Mantra : Reunite with your original truth. Demand respect. Create moments to be known. This ritual is a gift for your past, present, and future self. For your ancestors, and for others who need your representation. Self-actualization that honors your lineage, community, and legacy. This is living as your whole self, not just for you, but as a gift to those who came before and those still finding their way.
Artwork : Self-celebration made visible. Self-respect radiating outward. Identity fully claimed. Taken by Cher Russo, somewhere in Europe, April 2024.

Phone A Friend – Interview Series available on Patreon
Lauren calls a friend, presses record, and chats about how folks juggle their mental health, hobbies and jobbies.

Book Club available through Patreon
Join Lauren and a small group of curious and welcoming individuals for a 90min discussion every two weeks. Past books : Intimacy by Osho, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, Different Not Less by Chloe Hayden, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Before We Were Trans : A New History of Gender by Kit Heyam, Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspé.

Bandcamp – Handmade Merch + Other Offerings
Transition Transmissions – Affirmations EP

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Lauren Ruth Ward is a Baltimore born multidisciplinary artist, and four-piece rock band whose lyrics and stage expression are based on the exploration of the human condition. Their new release, Medicine follows an arc of self-discovery, from inner reckoning, to embodying truth, with each song representing a waypoint of awareness. Experience this body of work for the first time this Winter throughout the US and Spring 2026 in Europe and the UK.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Create from a desire to connect with yourself and your supporters, not from a desire to achieve any industry’s standard of success.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Reinventing Your Life, Adult Children OF Emotionally Immature Parents, Loving What Is, How To Be An Adult In Love, Shadow Dancing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://laurenruthward.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenruthward
• Other: https://linktr.ee/admin

Image Credits

Troubadour by Zoe Sher