 |
Tourwork Promotion &Service |
|
|
|
Tourwork Promotion &Service |
|
Tour
Schedules | Artist
Booking
Go Back
Artist: Marc Ford
|
Artist Website: |
www.marcfordmusic.com | |
|
|
||
|
|
new CD:
|
|
Marc Ford is the
former lead guitarist of the rock and roll jam band The Black Crowes.Born April 13, 1966 in Los Angeles, CA guitarist Marc Ford began his career with the blues-rock outfit Burning Tree in the late 1980's. A power trio featuring Ford on guitars and vocals, Mark Dutton on bass and Doni Gray on drums, Burning Tree released their self-titled debut album on Epic Records in 1990. A commercial failure but a critical success, Burning Tree allowed Ford and Co. to tour extensively throughout most of 1990 and 1991. Despite opening slots for such notable acts as The Black Crowes, the band failed to gain the attention Epic Records was looking for and was dropped from the media giant soon after. In late 1991, Marc Ford sat in several times with The Black Crowes in-concert, performing the Allman Brother Band's classic hit, "Dreams." When The Black Crowes severed their relationship with their original guitarist Jeff Cease, Ford was asked to fill the vacancy. Ford agreed and he was quickly tossed into t he mix for the band's 1992 sopohomore effort, The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, which hit Number 1 on the Billboard charts and earned a double platinum certificate for sales. Ford would go on to perform on the next two Black Crowes releases (1994's amorica. and 1996's Three Snakes and One Charm), two unreleased albums (1993's Tall and 1997's The Band) and a slew of concert tours. His addition to the Black Crowes sound, which features a healthy dose of slide guitar and southern twang, helped define the band as one of rock music's premiere acts. Ford was dismissed from the Black Crowes in the Fall of 1997, following the band's successful stint on the summer-long Furthur Festival tour. Black Crowes leaders Chris and Rich Robinson cited Ford's excessive drug use as the reason for his firing, but Ford himself is quick to note that he was not the only one with a drug problem. His absence from the Black Crowes was noticed with the band's 1999 release By Your Side, which lacked his guitar flourishes that defined a large part of their overall sound.
After his departure from The Black Crowes, Ford formed a solo
band, Marc Ford During 2000, Ford joined the Pink Floyd blues tribute band Blue Floyd, which originally featured Allen Woody (guitar, bass), Matt Abts (drums), Johnny Neel (keyboards) and Berry Oakley Jr. (bass). Providing their own bluesy take on Pink Floyd standards, Blue Floyd was a great success and allowed Ford to remain the public eye while he contemplated his next move. Ford left Blue Floyd at the close of 2001, opting to again go solo. In January of 2002, during one of his many regular appearances at the Malibu Inn in Malibu, CA, Ford welcomed Chris Robinson to the stage for a set of obscure-yet-memorable covers. This performance marked the first time Ford and Robinson had made contact with one another since Ford's dismissal from The Black Crowes nearly five years prior. Robinson again joined Ford at the Malibu Inn the next week, confirming that they had made amends. Ford even co-wrote "Sunday Sound," a track featured on Robinson's solo debut, New Earth Mud. Following his acoustic-based stint at the Malibu Inn, Ford decided to form a full-fledged electric band. Featuring fellow Blue Floyd member Berry Oakley Jr. (bass) and newcomers Gootch (drums) and Chris Joyner (keys), Marc Ford and The Sinners hit the road in early 2002. During the tour, Ford would often take time out (with and without The Sinners) to record tracks for his then-unnamed solo debut. In 2003, Marc Ford and the Sinners gained some helpful attention from country/rock singer Lucinda Williams, who became somewhat of an ambassador for the group. She secured the band a deal with Lost Highway Records and Ford began finalizing his material for the sessions. The Lost Highway deal did not come to be, however, as the band's representative at the label was fired and things subsequently fell through. The Sinners still had an opening slot on Lucinda Williams' ongoing tour, a slot that was fairly open-ended. Without a label backing them up, however, it was almost financially impossible for The Sinners to hit the road. Instead, Ford accepted an invitation to join Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, relegating The Sinners to an indefinite hiatus. Ford toured with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals for the majority of 2003, from which their live EP Live at the Hollywood Bowl was drawn from. Ford continued his association with Ben Harper and his band through the beginning of 2005, when he was called to rejoin The Black Crowes for their "All Join Hands" reunion run. Ford never severed his ties with Harper, however, appearing on his 2006 album Both Sides of the Gun and performing a handful of shows in support. On September 5th, 2006, two days before he was due to hit the road for the Fall leg of the ongoing Black Crowes reunion tour, the Ford's lawyer notified the Black Crowes management via fax that, effective immediately, the guitarist would no longer be a member of the band. The following day, Ford put out a press release announcing that he had left the Crowes in order to protect his hard fought sobriety and that he had recently produced albums for emerging artists The Pawnshop Kings and Ryan Bingham. Shortly after his sudden departure from The Black Crowes, Ford reunited with his Burning Tree bandmates for three gigs at King King in Hollywood, CA. The reunion went so well, Ford enlisted Mark Dutton and Doni Gray to be his band for the studio album he had begun preproduction on. Touted by the guitarist as a more guitar-based recording, Ford's second studio album (as yet to be titled) is due out in the Spring of 2007.
|
