Kristen Ford is one lucky SOB. After hearing Ani DiFranco perform live at the tender age of 15, she decided on the spot to become a singer-songwriter. Ford wanted to be a musician who could face any audience, bridge any divide, and win over any crowd, just like Ani. Kristen Ford may not have found overnight success, but she has certainly lived a life: writing thousands of songs, playing thousands of shows across the Western Hemisphere and Europe, writing, revising, learning, driving, looping, crowdfunding, DIYing, and falling in love over and over again with her time onstage.
In 2014, Ford hit the road full time, living in a van down by the river down by the Walmart down by the next tour spot or wherever the cops (aka nap patrol) wouldn’t bother her after sunrise while she slept off another late night show. The road helped Ford believe in her abilities to “make it” anywhere, even “the biggest pond” aka music city, Nashville! She has spent the last seven years refining her craft as a songwriter, arranger, and collaborator, winning some contests and recording some songs. She shed tears of joy hearing her own song as the credits rolled on her first full-length feature film Valentine Crush where she had a supporting role as an actor and got to star in two film-related music videos. Who needs to be President or run a corporation when you can fill up the silver screen wall to wall at The Sioux Falls State Theater?
In what felt like a blink of an eye since that first inspiring concert, Kristen Ford turned around at a show to meet a petite new friend. With an arm outstretched, this friend said, “Hi, I’m Ani.” Nervously telling her hero a story about poop and street parking in Chicago, Kristen then shut her mouth and played the set of her life. Ani walked into a Kristen Ford show as a stranger and walked out as a producer wanting to collaborate on the song “White Man’s Dream.” Recording in New Orleans with DiFranco throwing down a driving synth bass, directing Ford through lead guitar parts and vocal lines like a mad conductor, as Ford called on the spirit of Prince, moving from lead guitar to drumset to harmonies and beatboxing. This ain’t your grandma’s folk music, but it is three chords and the truth, reflecting the hard light of today’s society.