It takes a special type of person to hit it big. It takes patience, drive and skill.

Josh Ward has all three. His patience has paid off. His drive has brought him success. His skill is unmatched. What started as killing time between rodeo events has morphed into a chart-topping career.

We sat down with Josh to discuss his career, his success and his upcoming trip to Aggieland.

MW: So tell me, how’d you get started in music?

JW: I played a bunch whenever I was rodeoing, and I’d play for my buddies on the road. That was the first audience that I had. Years later, I kinda did the whole acoustic thing. People told me that I really needed to pursue that. I ended up starting the band. 15 years later, here we are! I mean, there’s a lot of in between there too, but it’s been a wild ride. Started out paying the bar scenes, really whoever would listen. Played all the cover scenes, played a bunch of cover songs. Finally got into some of the “A-list” venues, kinda for some speciality shows.

MW: Well you’ve had a lot of success in those 15 years. What do you contribute that to?

JW: Oh man, hard work and a no-quit attitude! I mean, I’ve got a great band, we’re writing some really great tunes, and I’ve surrounded myself with some good folks in the business. My writers, my producers, that kind of thing. It takes a village to run a camp like this and to stay on top of this. It ain’t all me, I can tell you that! I write the songs and sing but there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes things that are going on, and it’s working. I’m thankful for all the success that we’ve got. Hopefully there’s more to come with this new record in the spring. We’re gonna be hitting it with both barrels.

MW: So you’ve had nine-consecutive #1 hits. What is it like to see your music doing so well?

JW: It feels great! It definitely tells me that it’s worth the payoff. The #1s, those are icing on the cake. You get out here, you write the best you can, you run up and down the road and play all these shows. It’s kinda the pat on the back and the “Hey, man. Good job.”

MW: What would you is the most influential experience you’ve had for your career and for your life?

JW: You wanna talk about influential, I grew up on the older music. Haggard, Jones, Willie, stuff like that. I never got to meet any of those guys but they’ve had a lot to do with what I’m doing. Everyone tells us, “Oh man, you’re traditional country.” I think, we might be a little bit, but we’re a little of the other side too. I just wanna be recognized as good country music. Took a little bit from everything I learned from those guys. As far as life changing, when you do this for 15 years, it’s hard to answer that question. I look up to a bunch of those guys as far as being the guys I’ve always listened to. But 15 years, it’s all a blur now!

MW: For your new album coming out this year, what can we expect?

JW: Well it’s definitely gonna be country! But we are leaning on this record. We are taking an edgier approach with these songs than I’ve cut before. You can tell that the band has grown, the music has grown, and the business has grown. It’s gonna be a great record, I can tell you that. It’s gonna be big time. I worked with a lot of great writers on this one.

Josh Ward will be performing at the Tap on Jan. 30. We highly recommend grabbing your friends and heading out to see his show.