“Nici Ward is a singer/songwriter with a career spanning two decades. Having grown up in the industry, it was a natural path for Nici to start writing her own music — performing and recording around Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles, and her home of Perth. She has collaborated with artists as varied as Luke Steele, Six Ft Hick, Rinehearts and Graveyard Train – where she sang alongside Killing Heidi’s Ella Hooper. Her co-written song with Nuno Bettencort (Extreme) features on the soundtrack to Disney movie Smart People, and one of her songs was recently featured in the Perth short film A Mother’s Gift.
In 2019 Nici formed Girl+Boy with Perth music veteran Jesse French (Kuillotines, No Wonder, The Volcanics) with whom she has released a full-length album and several singles. During this time she was also performing solo under the name Lonesome Dove, which she expanded to a full band lineup in 2021 – featuring some of Perth’s most accomplished musicians with its current lineup of Benjamin Protasiewicz (Pat Chow) and Nick Vasey + Ethan Darnell (Tired Lion).
The past two years has seen LONESOME DOVE tour the east coast twice and tour with and support some of Australia’s most iconic acts including Magic Dirt, You Am I, Children Collide, Spiderbait and Jebediah as well as US acts The Black lips with Nici also standing in on guitar and vocals for Rinehearts which saw supports for The Hardons, The Dandy Warhols and Hoodoo Gurus.
2024 also saw Nici earn her place in WA’s Tender is the Night Series where artists are asked to showcase their original songs with accompaniment from a four piece string section. This has been a highlight in her career so far.
Lonesome Dove are currently working on their second full-length album – the follow-up to their successful 2023 debut album SUCKED IN released on Nici’s own label PINK HOUSE RECORDS.
“