Posted: April 21st, 2010 at 1:46 pm | By: Chris Parton
Even though Colt Ford has already enjoyed two videos on CMT.com and some success with songs like "Ride Through the Country" and "Cold Beer," he still just wants people to give him a shot. His new album, Chicken and Biscuits, was released Tuesday (April 20). "A lot of people think they know what I am and what I'm about based on the perception of this whole country/rap thing," he says in a recent interview. "It's funny, because I don't really like the term country/rap. A lot of people think that's negative. ... Where I think they're confused at, rap is not a genre. Hip-hop is a genre, rap is a vocal style. So Toby Keith on 'I Wanna Talk About Me' is rapping. So is Charlie Daniels on 'Devil Went Down to Georgia.' Anybody gonna say they're not country? To me, it's a country thing because of the story."
On Chicken and Biscuits, Ford tells his country stories the only way he knows how. "I grew up listening to country, so I knew about that. And then, like a lot of kids, I liked a lot of the hip-hop stuff. I liked Run-DMC and a lot of different genres, and for me to make a record, I had to be honest." But there was one problem. According to Ford, "I couldn't sing like my buddy Luke Bryan or [Jason] Aldean and I was like 'How can I do it?' Well, this is how I can do it."
What Ford ended up with is a lyrical flow that speaks the common language of many young people -- ones who grew up withJermaine Dupri and Ludacris separated from Alan Jackson by only the push of a button on their radio dial. He also developed a love of collaboration that led to friendships with many folks who just happen to be singers, and many of them appear on the new album. James Otto, Randy Houser, Josh Gracin, Darryl Worley, Rhett Akins, Joe Nichols, Kevin Fowler, Sunny Ledfurd,Ty Stone, Rachel Farley, Ira Dean and hip-hop pioneer DMC of Run-DMC all lend their vocals to Chicken and Biscuits. Another album scheduled for August will feature even more of his famous pals. At least for the time being, it looks like Ford will continue to do things his own way. "There are no rules in music. That's the most wonderful thing about it to me. There are no rules."
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