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Album: Smoke and Mirrors
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Smoke and Mirrors
Released Feb 29th 2008 (Rick's Birthday)
Total Album time: 48.18 Minutes
Total Tracks: 13
Price: £5.00 + Postage
Click here to purchase CD |
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Title
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Length
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Lyrics
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Listen to Track
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| A Red Rose
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4.45
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| Smoke and Mirrors |
5.29 |
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| Lonesome Rider |
3.41 |
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| Reflections of Madonna |
4.58 |
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| A song for Muktar |
4.40 |
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| Whispers and Screams |
3.37 |
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| May life treat you |
4.53 |
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| Beyond the Clouds |
3.58 |
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| Black Crow Blues |
4.16 |
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| You'll never leave me |
4.13 |
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| Kiss your blues away |
3.53 |
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| Far side of Heaven |
4.08 |
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| Lonesome Rider Part 2 (wax mix) |
3.34 |
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MAVERICK MAGAZINE REVIEW
'There's a pleasingly authentic outlaw spirit about this release from singer-songwriter Rick Ford. A resident of rural Staffordshire and a regular on the local pub and club circuit, Ford shows that he's ready for bigger things with this all-original collection. As a sometime fantasy novelist, he puts storytelling at the heart of his country-rock songs, interwoven with blues and folk influences. But the subjects this time are all too grounded in reality, and Ford shows a striking confidence in making the album an almost perpetually sombre affair, at times genuinely bleak. A Song For Muktar tells the desolate tale of a child warrior, while Beyond The Clouds is an equally tragic love story, but Ford delivers both of them with dignity and even a little of Richard Thompson's vocal gravitas...... The bar has already been set high by opener A Red Rose, a measured and grittily poetic roots-rocker, and this standard is matched again by the rolling folk lilt of Whispers and Screams. This is a predominantly well-crafted collection that balances a robust roots framework with delicacy and wistfulness where it really counts.' Helen Carney.
Maverick is the UK's biggest selling Americana/Country magazine.
ROCK 'N REEL REVIEW July/August 2008
RICK FORD debuts with an album of self-compositions, in his own words, 'distilled from a lifetime of listening to country, folk and blues,' entitled Smoke and Mirrors. It's a particularly competent collection. The irresistible melody-rich immediacy of Whispers and Screams' and country tones of 'You'll Never leave Me' contrast with the compelling acoustic pop-rock of 'A Red Rose' and the reflective acoustics of the harrowing 'A Song for Muktar' on an album brimming with unpolished gems.
AMERICANA.CO.UK REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2008
No tricks from Staffordshire troubadour
The unhurried melodies, rooted in folk story-telling tradition, suit Ford's simple and honest vocal style. Almost entirely acoustic, and sparsely yet carefully arranged throughout, Ford conjures up familiar earthy sounds to suit the observations of his keen lyrical eye. Title-track 'Smoke & Mirrors' is an early highlight, with dobro and mandolin adding haunting layers to Ford's simple melody and enthralling tale of disjointed moments in life not always being as they first appear. Elsewhere, it's unclear exactly who 'May Life Treat You' is aimed at, but you'll be thankful it isn't you, as Ford reels off an extensive list of bad wishes, bitterness and vengeful rhetoric. It's enticingly dark stuff. James Blunt it isn't!
.a talent worthy of investigation.
Ian Fildes
BLUES MATTERS REVIEW NOV-JAN 2009
The album opens with 'A Red Rose', written after an inspiring trip through Eastern Europe and Russia. The sound Rick has on this song is as big as the Steppes itself. You can taste the open spaces and the hardship of lives spent either in these landscapes or on the fringes of poverty.
As a writer Rick has the ability to conjure up visual images aplenty and you just see the farmer shooting at molehills, for example in the title track. The painting with words is particularly strong on three key moments of excellence with the songs 'Reflections of Madonna', 'A Song for Muktar' and 'Beyond the Clouds'. The first looks at those folks dispossessed and broken through either collateral damage or driven out by war. The second tells the tragic story of a young boy, maybe 14 years old, who is a boy soldier in the mire that is war-torn Africa. The last of the trio relates the tale of two lovers driven apart by un-supportive parents. It is a story common to many and very sad. This is a good record.
Graeme Scott
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