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M. Ward Teams Up With Zooey Deschanel

Actress/part-time musician Zooey Deschanel has confirmed the looming debut of She and Him, an ongoing project with indie rock icon M. Ward. In an interview with KCRW, Deschanel said the pair will release its Volume One LP through Merge in March and may tour behind it later this year. "I don't know if I will tour right when [the record] comes out, but I'm sure I will be doing that," she explained, adding, "To be cryptic about it."

Well all right then. Ward and Deschanel performed together at last week's "Songs of the City" event in Los Angeles. They originally met while working on the Martin Hynes film The Go-Getter, which will be shown at Sundance this week. As for where all this singing business started, Deschanel's actually been involved with music since 2001, from a jazz cabaret group with fellow actress Samantha Shelton to singing roles in Elf, Winter Passing, and the upcoming Janis Joplin biopic, The Gospel According to Janis.

And what does Ward think about Deschanel's songs? (As far as we know, she sings lead on She and Him's songs.) In an AV Club interview last May, he said, "I was amazed by the quality. I just had an incredible time working with her. She's an amazing talent, and a genius vocalist … I'm looking forward to people hearing this record."

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
01.14.08