Bill has sent in the the 12th edition of his Audio Diary series. This long delayed newest edition (the first in 2006), totaling 29:35 in length is available right now. Here’s some of what Bill had to say in this edition.

• Some friends of his who have died recently.
• The upcoming US Hall of Fame induction for Black Sabbath. According to Bill, Black Sabbath will not be playing at the ceremony. Furthermore, Bill has no information on anything else happening with Black Sabbath in 2006, either.
• Bill’s gonna be a daddy again (having a son), his fourth child.
• Some Beyond Aston updates – he’s been making a real effort since January to get it completed. Also, you can still download (legally, for free) the song “The Dark Half Hour” from that album. Check out the Sounds page to obtain it.
• As if Beyond Aston wasn’t enough, there’s some details about other music he’s written that isn’t on Beyond Aston that he will use for his next few albums. Bill also goes into some detail comparing the music from Beyond Aston to When the Bough Breaks.
• Sends props to Slipknot and System of the Down for their Grammy Awards
• Lots of talk about his Rock 50 radio show including some details as to what some of the tracks he’ll be playing on upcoming shows are.

There’s plenty more to hear as well, so make sure to check it all out. Here’s the link to the audio diary:

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary021806.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

Click here to visit an auction where you can win a personally signed pair of drumsticks by Bill Ward. Here’s what is written about them in the auction:

YOU ARE BIDDING ON A PAIR OF DRUM STICKS SIGNED BY BLACK SABBATH’S BILL WARD EXCLUSIVELY FOR CLASSIC ROCK REVISITED’S AUCTION.

THESE ARE STICKS MADE FOR BILL WARD BY DRUMSTICK COMPANY VIC FIRTH. WARD WROTE A “CLASSIC ROCK REVISITED AUCTION. SABS, ROCK n’ SHINE 12/12/05 ONE OF A PAIR” ON EACH STICK.

This item is being offered to you from Classic Rock Revisited. Classic Rock Revisited is an online magazine dedicated to Classic Rock Music www.classicrockrevisited.com We use eBay EXCLUSIVELY for our auctions. All items we auction are donated to us directly from the artist or thier record company to support Classic Rock Revisited. Thank you for taking time to check out our listing!

Hurry – this auction ends Jan-28-06 16:55:34 PST

Bill Ward will appear on fellow Black Sabbath member Tony Iommi’s new radio show this coming Sunday. You’ll definitely want to tune in to check this out, here are the details:

Planet Rock Radio
Sunday, December 18th
7:00 PM ­ 9:00 PM (GMT)/ 2:00 PM ­ 4:00 PM (EST)
Listen online at www.planetrock.com
Also available in the UK on DAB Digital Radio, Sky Channel 861, ntl channel 880, or Telewest channel 924

Bill has sent in the the latest in his Audio Diary series (the 11th). This new edition, totaling 25:10 in length is available right now. Here’s some of what Bill had to say in this edition.

* – Black Sabbath & UK Hall of Fame, and some events in his life surrounding it.

* – Some of the other artists he ran into and the lack of “rock star bullshit”.

* – His Diabetes & More on Vegan Food Issues.

* – Problems getting Beans & Toast from the rudest woman in England.

* – Some thoughts on this Christmas season.

Here’s the link to the audio diary:

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary121205.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

Bill has sent in the the latest in his Audio Diary series (the tenth). This new edition, totaling 20:22 in length is a little shorter than some of the others he’s done, but this one has a lot of really good information in it. Here’s the bullet poiints…

* – Details about the special Christmas episode of his Rock 50 radio show

* – A few thoughts on the induction of Black Sabbath into the UK Hall of Fame

* – Jack Bruce & Cream

* – A huge update on the status of Bill’s long awaited third solo album, “Beyond Aston”. Bill uses the phrase “light at the end of the tunnel” in his update, so you definitely do not want to miss this.

Bill refers to a few things in this diary, and I wanted to make sure that everyone knew how to reach them.

1) You can download the song “The Dark Half Hour” from the sounds page here on this site. The Dark Half Hour is a song from Beyond Aston that Bill has made available as a free, legal download from his website.

2) Straws. While the free download of Straws was withdrawn awhile ago, you can still obtain it by donating to one of several charities that Bill has teamed up with. You can get more information on the Straws charities here.

3) Rock 50. Here is the page with further information about the Rock 50 show.

Here’s the link to the audio diary:

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary110705.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

There’s a new interview with Bill Ward online now. It’s with the website allaboutjazz.com, and you should definitely check it out, as Bill talks about his career playing the drums and how it felt to be influenced by the blues growing up in Birmingham, England. Here’s a few quotes from the article:

AAJ: At what age did you start playing?

BW: I think I might have been about four, four or five, because my mother told me that they thought there was something wrong with me because I continually kept tapping on furniture. They thought I had something which, in Birmingham where I was born—or actually I was born in Aston which is in Birmingham—they said that I had Saint Vitus’s Dance, and Saint Vitus’s Dance is a common term in the midlands for somebody who can’t sit still.

AAJ: How would you say the group’s creative approach differed in the early days as compared to later albums?

BW: That’s a tough question actually. I think it comes in several parts. The first three albums or four albums, for me at least, I felt like they came out of big jams because we literally would sit in a room and just jam and a song would come from that. Giving credit where credit is due, I think that Tony would jam a little bit more than everybody else [Laughs], definitely work more on the arrangements and spend a lot more time with the song.

“Being influenced by dynamic music, I felt quite suited for blues and jazz which is pretty much what we really liked to play, especially more traditional blues.”

You can check out the full interview over at the All About Jazz site here.

We often get many requests here at billward.com asking what Bill plays. What snare drums, what cymbals, etc… Well, we finally have an answer to these requests online. Below is a thumnail for a diagram showing Bill’s kit that he used on tour with Black Sabbath in 2005. The diagram was done up by Tony Moon (Bill’s drum tech).

All the drums are Tama Imperialstar (circa 1980) unless otherwise noted.
All the cymbals are Sabian.

Check out a larger version of the kit here, or by clicking on the thumbnail.

Bill phoned in from home in California with the latest in his 2005 Audio Diary series (the ninth). This new edition, totaling 35:40 in length has these highlighted points:

* – Some Rock 50 Show Updates

* – Bill’s Musical Saturday Morning Childhood

* – Autographs & Email Backlog

* – Being Back Home off of tour, and how that affects his body

* – The status of Black Sabbath from his viewpoint.

* – More thoughts on the Hurricane victims in the US

There is of course a lot more than that, so make sure and download the entry and check it out!

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary091705.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

Bill phoned in from West Palm Beach Florida with the eighth in his 2005 Audio Diary series. This was recorded before Sabbath played the final gig on Ozzfest on Sunday the 4th. This new edition, totaling 29:42 in length has these highlighted points:

* – A toothache Bill is currently suffering from.

* – Remarks about the various gigs played since the last diary update

* – Continuing problems getting good vegan food on tour, and how this impacts his playing onstage.

* – Hurricane Katrina

* – Bill gives a lot of thanks to various friends and crew as the tour is winding down.

There is of course a lot more than that, so make sure and download the entry and check it out!

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary090305.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.

Bill phoned in from home in California with the latest in his 2005 Audio Diary series (the seventh). This new edition, totaling 24:50 in length has these highlighted points:

* – How it feels good to be back home

* – Feeling bad about the cancelled gigs.

* – How the cancelled gigs affect his playing, and how his age in general affects his playing.

* – Recollections of stories of a special hotel to the band in the past.

* – Some friends of his in other bands, including Velvet Revolver, Iron Maiden, & Slipknot.

* – Bill has no comment on the “bullshit rumours” regarding the Iron Maiden & Black Sabbath stuff that happened on the gig on the 20th.

* – Music he’s been listening to lately, including an album he’s really into, the new one from the Foo Fighters.

There is of course a lot more than that, so make sure and download the entry and check it out!

https://www.billward.com/sounds/diary082205.m4a

(Right click and select “Save As” or “Save Link As” and save the file to your hard drive, don’t just click this)

You need one of any number of free audio players (Winamp, iTunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox) to play this file. Don’t forget about Bill’s Podcast for the diaries, you can get more info on that here.

You can discuss the audio diary in this thread on Bill’s forums here on billward.com. A short note, if you have Windows Media player, you may have to rename the file extension from m4a to mp4 to get the file to play right in that player.