Live: David Ford at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 8/10/07

It’s not every day you go to a gig and cry … I’m looking at you, Laura ‘im too cool for school’ Archer. Yup, that’s right, emotions were expressed, lives were changed, we’ve heard it all before. But seriously, judging by our cynicism at the beginning of the evening, we could not have foreseen that within a couple of hours we’d be fighting over who was going to marry self-confessed hat fanatic David Ford (if he didn’t already have a wife … damn).

Listening to the songs anxiously on Myspace before, we were worried we were in for a whiny Jose Gonzalez disaster. Although the sound is quite similar seeing David Ford live is a totally different experience. Despite us arriving about four hours late for the interview, he was charming and accommodating, and as clichéd as it seems, he is genuinely making music for the sake of it, bothering not so much about its commercial success. This attitude is also evident from a quick glance around the room – not a single ‘indie’ fringe or waistcoat to be seen. As David Ford himself said, his fans were there not because they were told to be or because it was cool, but because they had a real passion for his music. We loved his tongue-in-cheek merchandise, T-shirts stating ‘David Ford is a genius / idiot … delete as appropriate’.

We loved his tongue-in-cheek merchandise, T-shirts stating ‘David Ford is a genius / idiot … delete as appropriate’.

He draws his inspiration mostly from musicians thirty years ago such as Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, saying ‘they sound like they made records only with the aim of being great rather than with a commercial expectation’. Holding to his values David Ford hopes that when he’s retired and in his eighties, telling his grandchildren anecdotes, he will be able to hold his head high (if he still can) and feel he did the right thing, “whatever that is”.

He can’t be far off, however, what with running his charity event ‘Milk and Cookies’ each year, in which the crowd randomly selects a song from ‘1001 UK Number 1s’ for him to cover there and then. He admits that this an get pretty awkward at times, especially if a hip-hop song gets chosen (“I’m the whitest person ever”) or, even worse, ‘Cotton-eye Joe’.

If anything, the gig proved that you cant just hand a man with a good voice a guitar and hear an amazing song, judging by the supporting acts who sounded like they never really got over their first crush at 14. David Ford’s music had the emotional sound and husky voice of a Damien Rice record, but is saved from pushing you to suicide by the passion and optimism embedded in the lyrics. Overall, a humbling experience … definitely someone to check out.

David Ford's second album 'Songs For The Road' is out now, and you can find him on Myspace here.

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