The former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford has just completed a lengthy tour in support of his new solo album Holy Ghost. We caught up with him after the final show of the tour, at the packed Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh, to talk about his new album, life on the road, and looking to the future.
This is the last show of the tour, how did you find it?
It was a great ending to a great tour. The band was amazing, the fans have been amazing and there was a real genuine gratefulness, anyone can blow smoke up your ass and tell you you’re great, but it’s been real fun to see the response.
You’ve played with a lot of different line-ups in the past, how did this current line-up come about?
I produced Phantom Limb’s record, and then I just thought that they would be a great band to record my record. They are friends of mines now, and they were beforehand. It just made sense, they’re very tasteful musicians and they listen to the songs. None of them want to jack off in front of people, they want to play great music. And they’re just great people, who have great hearts and it’s been a wonderful six weeks. People have suffered tough things, we had some things happen that could break a lot of people, but we learned and every gig has been amazing.
You talked, even during the gig, about how touring with a close knit bunch of people for a long time adds certain stresses and it sometimes gets weird. Is there anything in particular that stands out from the tour?
No, I mean you come up against things on tour. I kind of say that ‘tongue-in-cheek’. It’s only because we sit there and talk to each other on stage and we laugh amongst ourselves, and so I have to translate that to the people watching, or else we look like a bunch of farm animals. So I have to translate why it may, or may not, be weird.
You’ve been playing with your son Elijah, how’s that been?
It’s the best, it’s absolutely the best. He thinks I’m cool enough to hang out with, and I think he’s cool enough to hang out with.
There’s been quite a gap between this record, and your last one. What’s the story behind Holy Ghost? Why now?
I have made poor decisions before, and I needed to gain the trust of the people nearest to me, and just stop and cool off, and re-group. But it’s just time. Time to get back out and work again, and my wife was like all right, do what you do – you obviously can’t do anything else!
Is it tough leaving home for this?
It’s always tough, but at the same time I was also very excited to get back out here and do this again. My wife is pretty happy to know that our son is with me, which eased the pain a little of people gone for 7 weeks.
You’ve been through a lot of hard times in music, with up’s and down’s. Do you think you’re in a better place now?
Of course I am. I wouldn’t be able to make better music if I wasn’t.
And you’re music is a little different to your older stuff, was that a conscious decision or was it just natural?
I haven’t been playing a lot of electric music with bands, so I’ve had a lot of time to sit around with an acoustic guitar and that’s how I wrote a lot of the songs. It’s been a good period, I got to learn who I was. I would play music even if no one was listening, it’s what I do, it’s who I am. This album is confessional and there are love songs, it means a lot to me.
You’re coming back to Scotland in July to play the Southern Fried Festival…
Yeah, we were going to do a full band but it turns out some things changed, and so Stew and I are going to do acoustic. I think it’s going to be just as intense as with a band.
It’s a good line-up this year, what do you think of it?
To be honest with you I don’t have TV, I don’t have radio at home, and I don’t really read newspapers.
So you’re not really up on the current music world?
Not at all. It helps me to not be fished out into the world by ridiculous things. You know I don’t care what anyone else is doing, I just have to do my thing.
You had an amazing turn out tonight, a lot of fans…
Yeah it’s a really, really pleasant feeling, it’s fantastic. But if I worry about that then I couldn’t be free to write about what I want to write about, and make songs about what I want to write about, if I was thinking about all that shit. I’m almost 50, I can’t compete – It’s a young man’s game and I have got fans then all the better.
How do you find the interaction with your fans?
They’re the reason why I get to be here. Most people are very cool, some people get a little weird but it’s all right. I got weird with people that I looked up to. I took a long enough break to forget, to kill the old rockstar in me. To get back in to this it’s flattering, and I forgot that the music I’ve been involved in has made a difference in people’s lives. It’s humbling.
What do you have coming up the rest of the year?
Trying to get band over to USA for a tour, it’s just talk at the moment though.
You have a lot of ‘feel’ in your guitar playing, where does that come from?
I don’t know. I’ve been playing the guitar for 30 years, so I think it just comes. My grandfather told me that Burl Ives could make the guitar speak and I was like wow, how do you do that? And that’s stuck with me. You get all your old jazz and blues guys, and it has to be a voice.
You seem to be having a lot of fun on stage…
Yeah of course, I’m with my son and I’m with some of my best friends. They’re really honestly great players and great people.
Thomas Brent
