This is a post about a very special man. This man is not the kind of special that requires quotations around the word, nor is he the kind of special that is preceed by "oh isn't he" and followed by one or more exclamation marks. Ford Pier is the kind of special that refuses to be defined by words. Ford Pieris the kind of special that does something you wish you'd thought of first. Ford Pier is the kind of special that warrants a tribute concert even though he's known mostly as a sideman.

Chances are, you don't know who Ford Pier is. Until very recently, i sure didn't. For a while, i knew him solely as the guy on that "Poured Beer" poster my roommate had up on the wall. But, like many other things you get introduced to, i started to see him popping up everywhere. I'd go to a concert and he'd be introduced as a guitarist, or a back up singer, or a pianist. I'd see his name on a many a poster on downtown lamp poles. I'd crawl through the CD review bin and find a copy of his new record.

Ford Pier newest record, Pier-Ic Victory is hard to pin down. From the gaunt mule on the cover to the insane instrumentation, he makes it quite hard to use this thing we call "language" as a descriptive mechanism. Eccentric pops to mind immediately, but it doesn't doesn't seem to be enough.

Ford Pier has recently come back from a tour with Martin Tielli's (of Rheostatics fame) band and there seems to be a strong influence throughout the record. The rythms that shouldn't work in theory but kick ass in practice, and the soaring vocal melodies are quite remeniscent of Tielli's work, but don't for a second seem like a copy.

Ford Pier has collaborated with Veda Hille, Christine Fellows, Zubot and Dawson, Michael-Phillip Wojedwoda, Don Kerr, Tielli and many, many others.

Ford Pier - Charmed I'm Sure 128kbps 4.5MB
Ford Pier - I Don't Know 128kbps, 2.8MB
Ford Pier - Caesar's Wife 128kbps 3.4MB