Robben Ford

One of the world's leading blues guitarists, Robben Ford has worked with the cream of the music industry from Miles Davis to Bob Dylan and KISS, and who has built a solo career that's seen him tour the world and release over 20 albums. Born into a musical family, Ford picked up his first guitar as a 13-year-old one Christmas Eve and quickly began to master the guitar styles of his heroes, including Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield and Jimi Hendrix. Moving from small town Ukiah in Southern California to San Francisco in 1969, forming the Charles Ford Blues Band (named after his father) with his two brothers; and at just 22 he was recruited to record with Joni Mitchell and tour with George Harrison. His debut solo album The Inside Story (1979) was full of jazz and rock fusions and paved the way for The Yellowjackets, a jazz quartet which briefly featured Ford, before his style evolved, encompassing boogie, funk and R&B on Grammy Award-nominated albums Talk To Your Daughter (1988), Tiger Walk (1997) and Truth (2007). Continuing to perform regularly, Ford's 2013 album Bringing It All Back Home is ranked among his finest work and captures a flavour of New Orleans jazz and homespun country rock.