John Ford Live at Apalachicola Yacht Club
Description
John Ford, live at Apalachicola Yacht Club, channels the blues of the 1920s and '30s—the raw power of Robert Johnson and Son House—blending it with 1940s country twang and gospel rhythm to create his own brand of roots experience. Growing up in New Richmond, Ohio, a small river town twenty miles east of Cincinnati, Ford has been writing since his early teens. His philosophy remains simple: "Whether it be songs I've written or an old song from the 1930's, I play what I fall in love with."
The Recordings
Ford's newest album, Rollin' On, arrives in fall 2024 on disc and vinyl after over a year in the making.
In 2019, he released John Ford Live (with The John Ford Blues Society), a six-track EP captured at Morehead State University—five blues classics plus the original "Ma Sibbi's Chicken & Dumplins."
His first full-length album, The John Ford Blues Society (2016), showcases ten tracks featuring some of Cincinnati's finest musicians. Ford recorded the 2014 EP Songs From Room 414 at The Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas—the exact location where Robert Johnson laid down sixteen of his twenty-seven songs in November 1936. That's not homage; that's pilgrimage.
Ford's debut EP, Injection of the Blues, dropped in 2011. In 2015, he earned a Cincinnati Entertainment Award (CEA) nomination.
The Road
Ford's performance resume spans the Delta and beyond. He's played The Shack Up Inn, Hambone Art Gallery, The Hooker Grocery & Eatery, and Levon's Bar & Grill in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The Iron Horse Grill in Jackson. The Cottonwood Public House in Vicksburg. The legendary Slippery Noodle Inn in Indianapolis. BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups in St. Louis. Honky Tonk BBQ in Chicago.
He's opened for Cedric Burnside, Patrick Sweaney, Damon Fowler, and Ruthie Foster—artists who understand that pre-war blues, old school country, and southern gospel aren't museum pieces. They're living traditions, and John Ford keeps them breathing.
