Marc Ford

Marc Ford
Neptune Blues Club

My Lord, does guitar playing get any better than Marc Ford? Now, I know that many of you are asking yourselves right now, "who in the hell is this Marc Ford?" Well sir, he is the man with one of the best guitar tones that your ears will ever be graced with and is one of the most tasteful players to date, on any end of the spectrum. Some might remember his long stint with the Black Crowes (lead guitars on Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, Amorica, and Three Snakes and One Charm), others might remember him from his early days in Burning Tree, and some might have seen him briefly with Ben Harper. Marc is doing his own thing now and has never sounded stronger. His newest album, The Neptune Blues Club does not disappoint, bringing elements to the table that will satisfy the pallet of any rock/blues fan and absolutely any lover of great guitar work.

Don't get the wrong idea about Marc, he isn't a noodler. He can get more feeling and emotion out of two or three bends and slide licks that others can't even come close to with all their tapping and thousand-note-per-minute runs. Like everything else Marc Ford has released, I am immediately impressed with the songwriting and vocals that he has, sounding a bit like Bob Dylan at times, Tom Petty at others. Aside from being a Jedi with his guitar, Marc is a pretty darn good front man and crafter of albums to boot. The Neptine Blues Club, released on Blues Bureau International is far from a straight-up blues record. However, it is Marc's most bluesy release to date, mixing some funk and Stonesy sounding material into the mix that stretches beyond the traditional 12-bar progressions. Highlights for me include "Go Too Soon", a bar-room boogie-woogie number which could easily have been a track from a Stevie Ray Vaughn record and "Don't Get Me Killed", a down right dirty song that has some nasty slide guitar trading licks with a over driven harmonica.

Whether you are a lover of old rock and roll or the blues, you will undoubtedly love the newest release from Marc Ford. The Neptune Blues Club has got it all, complete with dirt, soul, and little of everything else in between. As always, Ford delivers some of the best guitar work from any release in 2008 with this one and makes the horizon look a bit brighter for those of us believe that rock and roll should stay what it is, or rather what it used to be .
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Andrew Bryant
-Garage Deluxe
"Southern Pentecostal Junkyard Boogie"