M. Ward Click on image to download print-quality version
	Juana Molina Click on image to download print-quality version

GRANTHAM, Pa. (Sept. 22, 2006) — Featuring minimal instrumentation and distinct voices, acoustic guitarist M. Ward and special guest Juana Molina will perform Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium in the Eisenhower Campus Center on Messiah College’s Grantham campus.  Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling the college ticket office at (717) 691-6036.

With a voice that sounds like it should come from a 75-year-old Mississippi Delta bluesman, M. Ward couples his distinct vocals with his passion for the guitar to create music that is part deep-roots Americana, part Appalachian bluegrass and overall a curious mix of influences that make a vintage of its own.  About his sound, Ward explains, “Guitar has always been my main passion. I feel like I’m learning over the past couple of years how to make my singing more of an instrument.”  He says he is inspired by musicians such as Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong and John Fahey.  Ward’s fifth album, “Post-War,” called “a moment-defining record” by “Vanity Fair,” recently topped the College Music Charts.

Special guest, Juana Molina, is a songwriter and guitarist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Molina’s music is marked by delicate vocals, a fragile guitar sound and an undercurrent of subtle electronic beats. She sings with extraordinary grace and welcomes new ideas, new sounds and even mistakes. “Most of them,” Molina says of mistakes, “end up being the soul of the song.”  Molina has released four albums; the most recent is “Son.”

Messiah College, a private Christian college of the liberal and applied arts and sciences, enrolls more than 2,800 undergraduate students in 60 majors. Established in 1909, the primary campus is located in Grantham, Pa., near the state capital of Harrisburg. A satellite campus affiliated with Temple University is located in Philadelphia.