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Sunday, 31 May, 2009 8:50 PM
CMA New Artist Spotlight: Colt
Ford
Photo
credit: Sean Cokes
Colt
Ford
| By
Bob Doerschuk |
| ©
2009 CMA Close Up News Service |
Colt Ford has written
with Country hit maker Jamey Johnson, Jeremy Popoff from alt-rockers
Lit and Southern rap-master Attitude. He has worked with Montgomery
Gentry, No Doubt's Adrian Young and hip-hoppers Bonecrusher and
Sunny Ledfurd. That may sound like this Georgia native and onetime
PGA golfer is picking through wildly different types of music in
hopes of finding his own direction. Nothing could be further from
the truth.
On his debut album, Ride
Through the Country, produced by Shannon "Fat Shan" Houchins
and released on Average Joe's Records, Ford blends disparate styles
into one sound that is part urban, part Southern, all Country and
totally his own.
These 14 songs, half
of them co-writes from Ford and the rest crafted solely, conjure
vivid images over deep-fried, swaggering grooves. On his first single,
"No Trash in My Trailer," which he penned with Mike Dekle
and Byron Hill, you can smell the butterbeans cooking and feel the
growling breath of Ford's dog, Sic 'Em Sam.
And on "Ride Through
the Country," his drawling evocations of swimming holes, dirt
roads, barbecue and a bottle or two on Friday night intersperse
with choruses sung by John Michael Montgomery in a voice that seems
worn by the trials as well as the pleasures of backwoods life.
"Most Country folks
sing but I couldn't so I'm rappin,'" Ford intones on that track.
But as far as telling a story through song, whether speaking or
singing, he more than holds his own.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
MUSICAL HERO
"Anyone who does real music. I think the fans know when something
is real or fake."
SONG YOU WISH YOU'D
WRITTEN
"That's easy: 'In Color,' by Jamey Johnson."
LUCKY CHARM
"I have God and Faith. I don't need anything more than that."
ACTOR TO PORTRAY
YOU IN A BIOPIC
"Brad Pitt. It would be hard to find someone as good lookin'
as me to play the role . Did I say that out loud?"
CD IN YOUR STEREO
"Montgomery Gentry's Back When I Knew It All."
DREAM DUET PARTNER
"I already worked with one of them, John Michael Montgomery,
on 'Ride Through the Country.' I would love to do something with
George Straight, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts. I
think I could do something cool with them."
On the Web: www.coltford.com
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