When he was a little boy, J.D. Cronise wanted to be a comic book illustrator. To those familiar with The Sword's lyrics, this should come as little surprise. Their three albums are filled with images and narratives from ancient mythology and science fiction. And like a visual artist with an illustration, Cronise, the band's songwriter/vocalist and guitarist, starts his creative process with a single image. It's a process that he describes as "organic": he never forces himself to write, instead waiting until the ideas come to him. If Cronise writes because of extrinsic motivation, it's not true art.
The Sword is touring in support of their new release Warp Riders on Kemado Records. You can read my review of Warp Riders in the Washington Post here.
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