The inevitable truth about music is that it is a limitless form. There is no right or wrong way of creating it, so long as you feel it. Where I found myself watching 13 musicians rotating in and out of the stage at Rumba Café last week, I found a much tidier arrangement this week at Caribbean Jerks.
In fact, the only musician to take the stage Thursday night was Kristen Ford.
That’s not to say that she didn’t bring a ton of intrigue along with her. If anything, I was even more curious to see the Nashville star and her one-woman band act. Her setup included a bass drum, hi hat and snare, two guitars, and a pedal board that featured a loop station.
Yeah, it was going to be another interesting night of music . But Ford was known to bring a full house any time she played in Columbus, so I knew she must be doing something right.
She started off playing her acoustic guitar on Shadow and Berlin, incorporating her vocals loops to make it sound like she had a host of melodic backing singers. That’s not to say that she didn’t bring a ton of noise on her own. Quite the contrary, as the entire area was musically illuminated with her guitar and drum work, as well as her vocals additions.
Kristen Ford (Credit: J Jester / Music in Motion Columbus)
Up next was Walking On A Wire, a “country song, since I’m from Nashville,” she added. She didn’t have the typical Nashville twang in her voice, and she later informed us that she was born in Ohio and spent six years living in Boston, too. Still, there was a special unique rasp to her voice that made her harmonies all the more enjoyable.
Ford brought out her electric guitar for February Sun, which featured a heavy dose of reverb, and Getaway Car, which she announced was “for anyone who has ever thought about robbing a bank, even for a second.” I was beginning to notice that her guitar tone was slightly different on every song she played, but she definitely had some serious licks when it came to the stringed instruments.
On Let Me In, Ford showcased her ability to harmonize… with herself. It may seem silly to say out loud, but she has such a fantastic vocal range that when she looped her voice, it gave her music a new life. It was also cool to see her finally start slapping the snare.
Her first cover of the night came with the Cyndi Lauper classic Time After Time. She paused at the chorus and invited me to sing along with her, which was a pretty cool gesture considering we hadn’t even been formally introduced yet. It was certainly an intriguing take with the chorus loops giving a new interpretation to a timeless hit.
Kristen Ford (Credit: J Jester / Music in Motion Columbus)
After that we had the vampire themed Hi Tops, which had my legs insisting that I stand up and dance. The song seamlessly transitioned into Raydeo, of which Ford announced was part of her collaborative hip-hop project Blu Janes. The song featured remarkably catchy guitar hooks and another ridiculously danceable back-beat.
The second cover was George Ezra’s Budapest, a soulful number in which Ford looped her voice into a round effect on the final verse. Up next we had Idealism, a song which Ford just recently released a video for, and then a short acapella piece titled Good Time. The last song from the first set was a scatty upbeat track called Mission to Mars, where Ford claims, “I tried to save this world. It’s impossible… I’m on a Mission to Mars…”
In between sets, I finally had some time to chat with her about this one-of-a-kind live show. She expressed concerns about burning out and said she was feeling a little existential about it all.
“I’ve been touring for the last three years straight and I really just want to come home to Nashville and find myself again,” she admitted. “I have all these songs, but I want to find what I want to do with myself. Do I want to be a solo looping musician? Do I want to get a band together? Do I want to share the stage and bounce ideas off of other musicians, or just do it all by myself?”
It’s definitely an interesting dilemma to face. Ford’s most recent album “Travel Songs” features tracks recorded all over America, other countries in Europe and South America, with additional artists contributing from those locations. A poor woman’s “Sonic Highways”, if you will. But her solo sound is wholly unique, and truly a product of her own musical genius. I almost think it would be more beneficial for her to stick to those guns for now and find ways to collaborate in future settings.
Kristen Ford (Credit: J Jester / Music in Motion Columbus)
Ford kicked off her second set with with the somber Ember Autumn, in which she proclaimed “I don’t mind if you want to let me go…” All throughout the night I was trying to pinpoint a comparative voice for her, and on this number it stared coming in clear.
Where I had initially felt Brian Aubert from Silversun Pickups, the more she sang the more I picked up on pieces of Brett Dennen and Allison Mosshart, if perhaps Mosshart were from Tennessee. Regardless of comparisons, she definitely knew how to use her voice in every situation.
Her next two songs were an amusingly upbeat version of Gillian Welch’s Everything Is Free, and a scratchy cover of Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You. The former got a laugh from the crowd when she threw in a plug for her own music, and the latter had the crowd around me humming and singing along. It definitely felt like an upgrade to the lazy pop style Sheeran so often employs.
More than any other song that evening, American Dreams showcased Ford’s ability behind the drums. She was simultaneously able to excel at three different instruments (guitar, drum, and of course her voice) during the song, almost as if she were the female equivalent to Lenny Kravitz. Her awesome pink curls didn’t hurt in that regard.
Ford whipped out her acoustic again for Cassette, a song highlighting her journey through the contiguous United States. She told us all that she had now visited all of the lower states, and was hoping to make her way up for an Alaskan tour stop soon as well. Near the end of the song she held out a long passionate wail, which brought out a raucous whoop of applause from the bar patrons.
Kristen Ford (Credit: J Jester / Music in Motion Columbus)
The night turned a little morose after that, with the brooding Rather Be Wasted followed by Two Days Sober, a song about staying up all night thinking about a newfound love. The finale of the sullen trio carried the namesake of her goddaughter Athena, and spoke of wanting to leave the world a better place than we found it. Ford has the perfect voice to give you a good wholesome tug at the heartstrings, and playing those three together definitely accomplished that task.
Be Your Girl featured the heaviest riffs off the evening, and finished with the high flying solo. Pretty Little Mind opened with a creative beatbox piece before evolving into another soulful ballad, and you have to believe that Ford could’ve thrown literally anything into her set and it would have stuck.
The final cover of the evening was U2s With or Without You, which Ford said she had played in Ireland with a gentleman who used to run sound for the iconic quartet. She admitted it was one of the more humbling moments of her career, and once again she did a fantastic job at making the song her own. She ended the evening with her most energetic and emphatic number El Camino, about how music will save your soul. Those of us here at Music in Motion Columbus can definitely relate with that sentiment.
Kristen Ford (Credit: J Jester / Music in Motion Columbus)
Even more than her music, the person behind all of it fascinated me the most. We spent the last few hours of the night touching on a broad range of topics, from pet food to socialism and the Kingdom of Norway. Perhaps the coolest thing of all was when I asked for her setlist and she told me that she never came into a show with a defined list of songs to play.
“It really ends up being whatever I’m feeling that particular night.” She added, “It just ends up being more magical that way.”
Magical is definitely the word I would use to describe this distinctive journey. She routinely plays in Ohio and I would challenge anyone who wants to see something unlike anything else to check out her performances. She has released two discs in the last two years; the aforementioned “Travel Songs,” as well as her most recent full LP “Rend & Render.”
Setlist
- Shadow
- Berlin
- Walking on a Wire
- February Sun
- Getaway Car
- Let Me In
- Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper cover)
- Hi-Tops
- Raydeo (Blu Janes cover)
- Budapest (George Ezra cover)
- Idealism
- Good Time
- Mission to Mars
(set break) - Ember Autumn
- Everything is Free (Gillian Welch cover)
- Shape of You (Ed Sheeran cover)
- American Dreams
- Cassette
- Rather Be Wasted
- Two Days Sober
- Athena
- Be Your Girl
- Pretty Little Mind
- With or Without You (U2 cover)
- El Camino
Kristen Ford – Idealism
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