The Ward Eights

Specialties

Whether you’re planning a wedding, dance night, class reunion, corporate event, or any other excuse to get a bunch of people together and have a great time, The Ward Eights is your party waiting to happen. Specializing in funk, soul and R&B, but also being no stranger to rock and hip-​hop, The Ward Eights will keep your guests entertained and dancing all night long. From our full 9-​piece band to our 6-​piece combo, we offer a variety of live music solutions to suit virtually any budget and musical taste. We also offer special wedding packages that include live classical music for your ceremony and jazz for the cocktail hour.

History

Established in 2010.

The Ward Eights are a band born in the audio department of Harmonix, the cutting edge video game developer behind games such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Dance Central. We’ve spent the last few years making killer music video games together, and now, in addition to that, we’re bringing that same passion for music, musical authenticity, and, most of all, fun to the stage. We’re co-​workers, great friends and serious professional musicians (who don’t take ourselves too seriously). The Ward Eights are a 9-​piece funk band including male and female vocalists, trumpet, tenor sax, trombone, keys, guitar, bass and drums, but we can do a full dance night with as few as 6 musicians for smaller events. If you’re planning a wedding and want music for your ceremony and cocktail hour in addition to your reception, we have a plan for that too. between the 9 of us, we cover a lot of musical ground. Pretty much anything from classical to jazz to polka (yes, tuba and all), we can do it.

Meet the Business Owner

Bill W.

Business Owner

Bill Whitney founded The Ward Eights in the fall on 2010. He holds a degree in music education and jazz studies from James Madison University, and spent several years as a high school band director before moving on to Harmonix where he would meet rest of the cast of characters that would become The Ward Eights. Currently, Bill works as a composer/​sound designer at Harmonix and is an active freelance multi-​instrumentalist in the Boston area, primarily playing bass and tuba.