Rick’s songs are steeped in the wild beauty of the hills, valleys and moorlands around his remote home in the Peak District countryside in the UK where he lives with his partner Claire and their dog Barney. His musical influences mesh together with a timelessness beyond fashion like the blues, folk and country music that he loves so much. Rick plays and sings in the pubs and clubs around North Staffordshire either on his own or as ‘Rick Ford and the Careless Lovers’ with John Paul Hill on accordion and guitars and Steve Giddings on slide and other guitars. Reviews for Rick's highly successful first album, Smoke and Mirrors called it 'an album of unpolished gems' (Rock 'n Reel Magazine) while Maverick Magazine called Rick 'an authentic outlaw spirit' and said of the the album that it 'balances a robust roots framework with delicacy and wistfulness where it really counts.' Reviews for STILL. Americana UK.com Folk with balls, badgers, and a big amp… Rick Ford lives in the Staffordshire Peak District in England. He sings songs, he tells stories, he writes books. And he records marvellous ballsy albums with catchy melodies, hooks and riffs galore. His ‘difficult second album’ (artists words, not ours) is a delight to hear. He flips from Americana rock to Tolkienesque ditties about unicorns, bluebell woods and flying polar bears. He takes you by the hand and leads you into his enchanted world where you’ll "follow badger footprints in the snow, and find your wildwood at your journey’s end". But not before you’ve danced jigs beneath the moon with pretty Gypsy girls with blood red lips. And flowers their hair. You get the picture, he's a total hippy. ‘Still’ is full of colourful tales of love and loss, nature and wilderness, and everything inbetween. It’s great homegrown folk music as it should be. A genuinely lovely album and well worth a listen. Date review added: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Reviewer: Sian Claire Owen Related web link: Artist's Website R2 Rock 'n' Reel. RICK FORD **** Still (Faradawn Records) www.rickfordsongwriter.com Although a certain cynicism can often attend English Americana, Rick Ford is one of those rare singer-songwriters who is wholly convincing in his ragged-edged country, folk and blues idiom. Whereas some may put on styles like a tourist Stetson, with Ford you sense that there’s a lifelong love – and understanding – of the music that simply rules out any other approach. Alongside the country blues of batten Down the Hatch’, there’s a touch of Crosby and Stills here, a flash of Eric Andersen there (particularly in the delivery of the stompin’ Fallin’ Blues) and the shadow of Dylan flitting in and out of the picture. This latter is most apparent in the dream narratives of a handful of tracks, such as opener Endless Trail, which growls its visionary part-apocalyptic, part- humorous tale across pumping drums and rough hewn guitar. Of course, you’d expect a good story from an acclaimed fantasy novelist and Ford doesn’t disappoint. … a fine collection from the wide open spaces of the Peak District. Rick’s tradition is that of the singer/songwriter and storyteller; as well as being a musician he is a writer and is the author of three best-selling novels entitled ‘The Faradawn Trilogy’ which the Manchester Evening News said put Rick 'among the first rank of contemporary English novelists while Publisher's Weekly said that 'the authors artistry has created a parable for our times.' For more information as well as pictures and the video of Smoke and Mirrors please visit www.rickfordsongwriter.com