Marc Ford made his name playing lead guitar for the Black Crowes. Now, seven years after leaving the group, he has stepped forward with a sparkling solo debut, chock full of famous friends and great tunes.

By Brandon Findlay

Marc Ford has long rode a crazy train. And with the release of his debut solo album, It’s About Time, the trip just got a whole lot more interesting.

Taking his GED at age 17 and moving into Hollywood in 1983, he claimed his place on the scene alongside good friend (and future Lenny Kravitz guitarist) Craig Ross, eventually forming Burning Tree. The power trio released their eponymous debut on Epic in 1990 and Ford soon discovered a kindred spirit in the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, whose band was riding high on the strength of Shake Your Money Maker (American). Burning Tree opened a bunch of shows and Ford was invited to replace lead player Jeff Cease.

Ford’s melodic, searing lead style further defined the Crowes’ sound on The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (American, 1992). With the band stretching out more, they gained followers in the growing jamband community but many of their original fans missed the tight exuberance of their early work and the Crowes would never reach the commercial or critical heights of previous records. In 1997, Ford, struggling with addiction, parted ways with the Crowes, checked into rehab and started fresh.

His new band Federale was picked up by Interscope in 99 and granted a large budget and recording time with producer Jack Douglas, both of which vanished when Interscope was bought out. The band ended after only a small number of live shows and some great demos. Ford soon joined Gov’t Mule’s Allen Woody and Matt Abts as well as ex Allman Brothers keyboardist Johnny Neel, and bassist Berry Oakley Jr. in Blue Floyd, who played bluesy interpretations of the Pink Floyd catalog. Ford moved on after Woody’s 2000 death..

It’s About Time shines a light on Ford’s musical complexities. The album is not an exercise in chops, but an expression of his taste and compositional ability, running the gamut from rustic acoustic pieces through rootsy electric rockers. Guests include Gov’t Mule, Ben Harper, Ross and the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris.

Guitar World Online caught up with Marc during early preparations for a renewed push behind It’s About Time. Check http://www.marcford.viachicago.org/ for current tour dates and to pick up a copy of It’s About Time.

GWO: The album features many different musicians and I as struck by the way you consistently pick material that fits who’s playing on the song while maintaining a defined artistic style. What do you feel that says about you as a songwriter, musician, and guitar player?

FORD: Maybe that I know my friends and songs pretty well? I have a lot of really good friends that are really great musicians and they all helped me out in a big way. Knowing the way the friends of mine played, I had sense of the way each song should go and put bands around it.

It all just happened as it went, so I didn't really know what would happen. A couple of the tracks were some demos I had done previously, around 15 basic tracks that I winged out one day at Warner Brothers. I kept a couple of those tracks ‘cause they felt good, and then built those up. As time went on, I knew some people that I would like to have called, but I didn’t know if they were going to be in town. A lot of great favors were done.

GWO: A lot of people will be surprised to discover that you are such a fine singer and songwriter.

FORD: Before I joined the Crowes I was writing songs, singing and doing all that stuff and I just let that go to be a guitar player for a while. I knew that was my role going into it, and so I shut that side of myself down. On the outside of it, songs started coming and I got down to it.

GWO: How did Allen Woody, bassist in the Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule come to play guitar with you in Blue Floyd?

FORD: Well, he started on guitar. He had a beautiful guitar collection. And he always played bass like a guitar player. His sense of melody was always really great, his sense of taste, and he had the ability to know when not to play. It was just real natural and it was a blast.

He was the main guy in getting that whole thing together. We sort of got the guys and showed up in a rehearsal room. None of us had even tried to learn any Pink Floyd songs, and we just started playing. And from what we’ve heard for so many years, on the radio and on the records, we all just instinctively knew the songs. We’d just pick a key and start going. I think he had a great time getting to have a vehicle to play guitar

GWO: You recorded Two Mules and A Rainbow and Just Let It Go with the Mule on April 1, 2000. Those were among Allen Woody’s last studio sessions and it is rumored that there were actually four songs recorded that night.

FORD: Yes, we did four basics. We went in and the way we recorded was just so off the cuff. I flew in on the night they played Detroit, and they had a day off the next day. That morning I showed them the songs on acoustic guitars, we went in, set up, and spent the day recording. They took off on their bus and I said goodbye, jumped on a plane, got home, and those two tracks just had a real life in them. Not to say the other two were bad, but in the scheme of the record, those are the ones that I picked. Those tracks are still there; they’ll never go away.

GWO: Audley Freed has ironically replaced you in both the Black Crowes and Blue Floyd. Did you know him from his band Cry of Love?

FORD: I met him through Warren [Haynes] actually, and we’d spoke about playing together. I love the guy. We recently played together at the Malibu Inn with Chris [Robinson]. [As far as replacing me] I don’t really know what to say to that except that he’s another great guitar player that’s around and available in the style that we do

GWO: Well people like to create controversy, especially with the net, and there are rumors of discord between you guys.

FORD: You know, that’s sort of the pitfall of the net. You’ve got a lot of people with a lot of time on their hands, and it’s sort of the day time drama soap opera mentality. They don’t want to deal with their own drama, they want someone else’s. Almost 99% of the shit on the internet has absolutely no truth in it, and I’m not gonna fucking police it 24 hours a day. So I just let it go and people can do what they want, and the smart ones know what’s going on.

GWO: You and the Sinners recently recorded a cover of “I Me Mine” for a George Harrison tribute and he seems to have been a major influence on you, especially your slide playing.

FORD: Definitely. He was such a melodic player. He was a master at knowing just what to play; he always had the perfect part for a song. And I love that behind the scenes, accompaniment side of guitar playing. I love to get out front and rip it up too, but there’s a lot more to be said about being in it’s place where it should be. The purpose of every instrument in any situation is to support the melody line of the song. George was just unbelievable at that and his slide playing reflected it. He had such a nice touch.

GWO: What do you like about playing slide?

FORD: My favorite thing about it is that you get one step closer to the human voice. You get the slight little bends, and the ins and outs of intonation the way a voice can do it. With the slide, you can get really vocal with it. Before I joined the Crowes, I would mess around with beer bottles and lighters, but I never took it too seriously. And then Rich said ‘You play slide, right?’, and I said ‘Oh yeah, yeah’, and I had to learn immediately.

GWO: Could you discuss your live and studio electric setups?

FORD: It really depends on the situation. In the studio, we use a lot of different amps, a lot of little amps, a lot of things that half-work, things that work great, big, small. It really just depends.

And live with the Crowes, I had my ’70 50-watt Marshall half stack, and for a long time I was using a Matchless half-stack. Nowadays, I’ve got this Roccaforte half-stack that is an amazing amp, but it tends to be really, really, loud! [laughs] When I’m not using that, I’ve been using a Supro lately.

Guitars come and go. Right now, I’ve got a couple I’ve never even used before. Effects, I try not to get too involved in. They’re meant to effect what you do, rather than have them start running your sound. I’ve always loved fuzzes and wah-wahs, and now I’m using a little Line 6 delay, which is an awesome little thing with great options.

GWO: Do you tend to approach the acoustic guitar differently than the electric?

FORD: Yeah, because to me it’s a completely different beast. The acoustic, and maybe this is just the way I’ve been feeling about it lately, is the whole band. It’s got the drums, the bass, the melody, and it’s all going on right there. The electric, it just serves a different purpose to me, as a more melodic sort of instrument.

GWO: There is a strong Neil Young influence at times in your songwriting. What appeals to you so much about Neil?

FORD: His simplicity, I think. His ability to say so much with so little, melody-wise and lyric-wise. It is like a raw nerve. He never dicked around with trying to make anything pretty, he was just, this is what you get, either like it or don’t. There’s just an honesty about it that I really like.

GWO: Some of the material on It’s About Time has a real country rock flavor.

FORD: I grew up in California, and that has historically been the flavor out here. There has always been a lot of country-rock out here. Gram Parsons-type stuff and even to the Eagles and the Byrds. There’s just been a long line of that kind of music. With the resurgence of it, I’m influenced by it because there’re so many bands around. I love American music and country music is huge part of American music. And I sat down and wrote about all these songs on acoustic guitar, which lent itself to that direction. The story-telling, being on your own and doing it by yourself kind of thing. And the Crowes had always touched on things like that, so it was just a natural progression for me

GWO: Have you made any progress towards finding a label?

FORD: Yeah my managers are talking to some people. The state of the music industry right now is pretty upsetting. It’s easily at the lowest it’s ever been. The internet and the independent labels are the only way it’s going to go, ‘cause it keeps it in direct contact with the fans. Fans have contact with themselves, and it’s a much more grass-roots thing. No one’s making millions of dollars anymore except people who are making billions of dollars.

In a way, it’s really cool because it will allow people to make music that is a lot more honest to them, rather than having to fit into some format to get a deal with some record label. Now, it’s just so fuckin’ hard to get one at all! [laughs] And there’s a lot of great music out there that needs to be heard. Somehow, it’s gonna happen soon. It has to.

GWO: Marc, there have been many perspectives given on your split with the Black Crowes. Could you fill us in on your point of view?

FORD: There’s a lot to tell and a lot of it is inconsequential. It worked really well for a few years, and it was an amazing ride. We made some unbelievable music. I honestly think that was easily, hands down, one of the best rock and roll bands there ever was. When we had it together, it was unstoppable. And then came fame and money and the inability to deal with it. [You had] people growing as people and becoming adults and having families. It just got to be this crazy, dysfunctional, fucked-up situation, at least from my point of view.

And I just really started not enjoying myself at all. Maybe the part I played in it was I faded away and wasn’t involved in it as much as I should have been. I just really didn’t care anymore. It wasn’t fun anymore. There was a lot of really strange shit going on. They wanted to dredge on, I didn’t, and I think it was a mutual thing on both sides. And you’ve seen what happened with them, so, it was on it’s way that way

GWO: Would you talk about your stay in rehab and how you see life as a human being and as a musician now versus before? I noticed you thanked God in your liner ntoes.

FORD: Wow, that’s another big one! Man, when you’re young, the things you think are important can turn out to be not important. After running into brick walls while trying to run away from things going on inside of myself, and basically dying, you wake up a little bit. You start to realize that there are much more important things going on than you. I learned a lot of great tools in there to deal with my everyday emotions. It’s an ongoing, everyday, life-long process.

The fact that I’m not in charge around here takes a lot weight off of you, where you don’t feel like you have to carry the world on your shoulders. Therefore, hopefully there’s less pressure to feel like you’ve got to escape. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time for a long time, but eventually that abuse on your body just takes over. You don’t fight back as quickly, and it wears you down. So I was worn down physically, spiritually, and mentally…I had to start from the bottom and rebuild. And you know one way is not the right way to go because you just did it and it fucked you really bad [laughs].
So I work everyday at simple things and being a better person. Not getting petty about people and places or hung up about the little things any more. The things that are important to me have changed, and its made music so much more precious, important and powerful to me, whether I’m listening, playing, or writing.

GWO: Now that both you and Chris Robinson have written and performed together again, is there an avenue open there for a project?

FORD: Yeah, maybe. There’s nothing being planned. He’s busy with his band, which I just sat in with at the Troubadour. We’re friends and we’ve settled our shit. It was nice to see him and it was fun to play together again. We love making music together, so I’m sure that’s always a possibility. I would love it, but right now there’s no time for it.

GWO: Has it been difficult to start singing and playing together again, after setting the singing part aside for so long?

FORD: Yeah, it was, because it’s a habit thing. It’s very physical. It’s not really the intonation, it’s more mental, because you’re spearheading the direction of the band rather than being more a part of the band. There’s more responsibility. I’ve got to remember all the fucking lyrics! [laughs] And just the physical act of singing, it’s a muscle and there’s some atrophy there. For six years I didn’t really use it except for a little bit of back-up singing. To get it working again is a long, slow process because I really don’t know what I’m doing.

GWO: What do you think has been your greatest benefit from all the projects you’ve taken part in?

FORD: Maybe experience. I’ve got to meet a lot of great people, make a lot of great friends. Maybe just life knowledge…I don’t know. Music saved my life when I was a kid. It was a gift to me that’s precious and I protect it. It’s taken me all around the world to some unbelievable places. It’s really too hard to describe. It’s too big.

GWO: Do you think you’ve managed to create a unique voice on the instrument?

FORD: I don’t know man, I hope. It’s not for me to decide. It’s like Clapton said; he put Albert King licks together with Freddie King licks and that's who he is. Who knows? You don’t really get a handbook how to do your thing. So you just make it up as you go along. And you steal, you rip off, you borrow, and you do what you can to get through and hopefully it starts to meld into something.

GWO: Why should guitar fans pick up this album?

FORD: ‘Cause it’s real. It’s honest. There’s no bullshit. It’s what it is and you’re either gonna really like it or you’re not going to like it. There’s no faking on it. There’s a lot of great playing by a lot of musicians who have never even been heard of. I think it’s a quality record by a lot of great players.

[I’d like to thank Mark K., Brenda, and all those FANATICS and friends who helped along the way to get this finished-BF]