Marc Ford

Marc Ford (born April 13, 1966) is an American blues-rock guitarist.

He is a former guitarist of the rock and roll band The Black Crowes, the former lead guitarist of The Magpie Salute and the leader of his own bands: Burning Tree, Marc Ford & The Neptune Blues Club, Jefferson Steelflex, Fuzz Machine and Marc Ford & The Sinners.

Marc Ford was born in Long Beach, California, United States.

Ford grew up in a non-musical household.

He used to listen to his mother's small music collection of old 45s consisting of Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

He had early fond memories of The Beatles' music, however, based on where he grew up in L.A., Ford didn’t have a whole lot of exposure to music and its genres.

He described it as being in a "very bland-white-suburb".

At the age of ten, his grandmother bought Ford his first guitar from the Rose Bowl Flea Market/Swap Meet.

Ford was taught the acoustic guitar in elementary school, and attended his teacher's music night class for house wives.

Originally, Ford played the trumpet in his school's band class.

He was dissatisfied with the trumpet, despite being encouraged by his father to pursue it.

He came to appreciate learning an instrument, as it first introduced Ford to the world of music, and the effect it can have on a room full of people.

In his early teens, he became influenced by Elton John, Jimi Hendrix, and the 60s English bands Pink Floyd, and The Jeff Beck Group—in particular the first two albums, which featured guitarists Jeff Beck, Ron Wood, and the vocal talents of Rod Stewart.

He delved deeper into southern roots music, and his love and appreciation for it still upholds to this day.

Marc Ford started out playing the Southern California/Los Angeles underground punk rock scene in the early to mid-eighties in garage bands such as Citadel, which later went by the names Citadel Ltd & Head.

Formed by Ford's acquaintances in high school, Citadel eventually disbanded due to disagreements with their singer, which led to the formation of Burning Tree.

Ford and his high school bandmates were influenced and lived vicariously through the rockumentary films: The Who's The Kids Are Alright (1979), and Jimi Hendrix (1973).

Ford was in the Orange County band The Scarecrows.

Throughout the eighties, the members of Burning Tree and The Scarecrows had been fitting in and out each others bands for several years.

When Ford launched Burning Tree with drummer Doni Gray and bassist Mark "Muddy" Dutton, Ford had played an integral role in revival of the Scarecrows, which came back in early 1988 after a year's absence.

Ford contributed to the Scarecrows demo recordings and played in many of the band's live shows.

Burning Tree released their self-titled debut album on Epic Records in 1990, produced by Tim Palmer.

On the album, Booker T. Jones made an appearance and played the Hammond B-3, featuring on two songs.

Although the band was known for sharing vocal roles, Ford sung lead on the following tracks: "Burning Tree", "Fly On", "Mistreated Lover", "Playing With The Wind", "Last Laugh", and "Baby Blue".

A commercial failure, but a critical success, Burning Tree allowed the group to tour extensively throughout most of 1990 and 1991.

The band struggled to find an audience in the States during the height of "big hair" hard rock music, and instead toured England.

During their 1990 tour, Burning Tree opened and supported English bands such as The Damned, The Quireboys, The Dogs D'Amour, and The Riverdogs.

In mid-1991, Ford sat in a couple of times with the Black Crowes in concert, performing The Allman Brothers 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.

Overcome with frustration and stagnation in the industry, the band's career was cut short when Ford left to join the Black Crowes in 1992, for whom Burning Tree had opened for on their first (and only) tour.

The album The Scarecrows featuring Marc Ford was released in 2006, based on the band's 1988 recordings.

In the late eighties, Citadel Ltd/Head evolved into the blues-rock outfit Burning Tree, a power trio featuring Ford on guitar and vocals, Mark "Muddy" Dutton on bass and vocals, and Doni Gray on drums and vocals.

In 2006, fourteen years after the disbanding of Burning Tree, Ford unexpectedly reunited with his original bandmates.

The trio performed three gigs at the King King in Hollywood, California.

A few years later, Burning Tree reunited for a gig at the Whisky a Go Go on December 11, 2014 and again on February 19, 2016.

Before knowing of The Black Crowes, Marc Ford was given a promotional copy of Shake Your Money Maker by a friend who worked at a record store.

He first listened to the album while out driving with his wife and he pulled the car over, even before getting on the freeway, in utter disbelief.

Ford was overcome with a burning passion for their sound.

"Listen to that dude sing! He sings like I play the guitar. I'm going to play with that dude someday."

Ford quickly became friends with Chris Robinson and the rest of the Crowes.