Christopher Ford and the Walk of Every Man
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2013 | SELF
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Christopher Ford transports his lyrics with a rawness that implores your ears to listen; his music tugs at your heart strings urging you to feel the rhythm. Ford’s vocals deliver a pure smoothness filled with a bit of witticism and a passion only a singer-songwriter can bring.
Christopher Ford’s website is a glimpse into his soul and a platform for his desire to write good music and to tell his story. It is as simple as that. No gimmicks. He asks only for you to open your mind and let him in. And once you do you will find a cleverly disguised poet strumming his acoustic guitar as his lyrics bleed from his soul each and every time he steps upon the stage.
“First, take one of these and chew 10 times slowly” is an introduction to his personality and to his 5-song EP recording which he released one song each week starting in February of 2013. The EP itself will be released December 2013.
On his website he jokes, “Maybe you were searching for “Clifford the Big Red Dog” and left out a few letters (happens to me all the time).” Something not to joke about is his penchant for smooth, clean lyrics that clutch your heart.
The first song on the EP, Heroes and Heathens, “Steady at the Wheel” jump starts his listeners with a quick beat occupied with angst and honesty lain out upon his shirt sleeve. It is a raw tale lined with Ford’s smooth voice, gut wrenching lyrics and guitar licks that feeds your compulsion to sing along with him.
“I left home ‘cause I only ever wanted to break free…here I am alone” is a dose of pure honesty, as true as any songwriter can be when opening the doors for others to view the man behind the lyrics. It offers a peek at the personality that is Christopher Ford.
“Maidenpool” is another tale from the soon to be released EP. The eclectic song seizes you and pulls you in to a time suspended between air and water and visited by a lovely maiden. The lyrics are lovingly sung with Ford’s smooth voice and sparked with just the right blend of instrumental harmony.
I am a wanderer,
my coat is torn,
my feet are worn
Christopher Ford currently resides in East Vancouver and has strummed his way throughout Western Canada with appearances ranging from open mic nights and street festivals to barroom stages including the Raw Canvas, a fitting name for a singer whose passion is not hidden from prying eyes. He completed a tour of Western Canada in the summer of 2012 and has made appearances on CJSF’s Melodies in Mind and CITR’s The Morning After Show.
With acoustic guitar in hand and what his websites refers to as having a “penchant for a cheeky joke or three,” he has performed at the Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Competition and received both fourth and third overall in 2009 and 2011.
“Please don’t feed him, as it teaches him to depend on your snacks” may be how Christopher Ford lightly quips of himself, but his clever lyrics, smooth voice, and gifted hands will strike a chord with you and bring you back to listen to his music for years to come. - Wordkrapht
Heroes and Heathens (Independent)
“I left home because I only ever wanted to break free,” Christopher Ford sings on “Steady at the Wheel”, the first track off his new Heroes and Heathens EP. But the Vancouver-based songwriter soon learns that it’s hard to fully escape your past. Despite detailing a late-night escape from the family home atop hard-strummed acoustic guitars and a good-’ol-boy backbeat, he cops to dialling his pops up all the time. Structurally, Ford’s repeated refrain of “Call him on the phone, call him on the phone” oddly conjures Phoenix’s Thomas Mars, even though it’s delivered with a twangin’ accent instead of French pop-rock pomp.
While the opener is pleasant enough, the sparseness of the rest of Heroes and Heathens leaves plenty of room for improvement. “Every Good Soldier” tries to play it personal but really just runs by on two chords and clunky aphorisms like “Just like every good soldier, we’ve got to soldier on.” Also eschewing the full-band treatment is “Nothing on Me”, which further rankles with its deliberate stop-start pacing on the intro and some reedy vocal improvisations.
The EP’s bittersweet finale, “The Firebird”, lays out an interesting tale about someone who feels through their fists, not their heart. It also comes with the narrator’s admission that he had to push away someone looking for love. Just like the character in “Steady at the Wheel”, this phoenix does its best to turn its tail and burn out on its own path all alone. - The Georgia Straight, May 2013
Christopher appeared on CITR with host Oswaldo Perez, founder of VanMusic.ca (www.vanmusic.ca) in October 2012. Listen to his performance and interview after the jump! - CITR Radio Vancouver
Listen to Christopher's December 2012 interview and performance on CJSF's 'Melodies in Mind' with host and Vancouver music personality Ryan Fletcher. - CJSF Radio Vancouver
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
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Bio
Christopher Ford has been attacking acoustic guitars on stages throughout Western Canada for the past half-decade, grinding out a soulful, energetic form of folk that demands a second listen. Don't let Christopher's disarmingly bright banter between songs fool you: once he starts playing, he brings a profound-yet-paranoid urgency to the stage that has earned him a devoted following in both Alberta and B.C. After cutting his teeth standing out from amongst the cowboy hats in Calgary and the blue-collar bars of Edmonton's winter, Christopher moved westward to the land of long beards and thick-rimmed glasses, and the transition has helped him to find his true voice.
With a voice that hovers somewhere between Cat Stevens and Steven Page, competence on strings, brass, percussion, and keys, and the lyrical soul of an urban nomad, Christopher has quickly been making an impact on the barroom stages, open mic nights, and street festivals that mark the burgeoning folk scene in his new home of Vancouver. In December, Christopher hosted a wildly successful release party at The Media Club - one of Vancouver's classiest listening rooms - for his latest EP, Heroes and Heathens. Marking the culmination of a year of writing and recorded largely in Christophers East Van laneway home, Heroes and Heathens features an eclectic mix of alt-folk influenced by the work of inscrutable 1970s music giant Cat Stevens.
Christopher has been busy throughout 2013, playing dozens of shows and appearing on local radio programs, but the release of the new EP marks a distinct turning point for his career and a commitment to a fuller, more mature sound. Heroes and Heathens has been receiving acclaim in the blogosphere, with influential indie reviewer Wordkrapht declaring that [Fords] clever lyrics, smooth voice, and gifted hands will strike a chord with you and bring you back to listen to his music for years to come. Vancouver arts magazine The Georgia Straight noted in a preview that Christophers vocal delivery conjures Phoenixs Thomas Mars with a twangin accent. In response, Christopher is embarking on a tour in April 2014 to support the record, planned to span 25 cities in the Pacific Northwest.
Thanks to the wonderous and inscrutable powers of the internet, you can follow Chris's adventures on his blog at www.c-ford.net and on Twitter at @toolestooles.
If you'd like to book Chris at your next shuttle launching party or cool-guy hangout, he might say yes. Try him at booking@c-ford.net.
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