| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 94.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 6 Mar 2010.
Ford has been pickin' his way through life
John David Ford is comfortable whether designing ads, labels, and packaging for Food City or playing his banjo. He lived for many years in Newport before moving to near Abingdon, Virginia, where he works for K-VA-T Foods.
Author: David Popiel
February passed quickly but March may seem forever in our hometown, looking forward to the start of spring on the 20th, Passover at the end, and an early Easter in April.
Before moving along to the heart of this week's wanderings, I must mention the most interesting Cocke County Partnership legislative breakfast on Friday morning at The Mountain Crest Inn. I sat with Reid Bailey, Raymond Sutton, Vaughn Moore, Randy Winters, and Rick Hooper. It was informative and good to see so many friends we share interested in our community. One big fellow I got to chat with briefly was Joe Malone, who runs Newport Paving. I heard he had been ill and Joe explained he had an irregular heartbeat problem. He spent seven hours in Jan. at a heart specialist to"burn" the inside of his heart and now seems to be doing well. You saw in the Plain Talk last week that Claire Crouch gained a seat with the national Republican Women and I congratulated her. She is the"Claire" I mentioned in passing last week when she brought her banjo into the music store for lessons. She already has calluses on her fingertips.
When visiting Strings 'n' Things the name of our1993-1995 employee John David Ford came up so I gave him a call to find out how he has been doing and to share his music interest. You recall that his father was Haskell Ford, of Del Rio. He owned Ford Jewelry in Newport for years and was married to Annie Ford of Sumter, SC. The local Grandparents were John Garfield Ford and Anner Davis Ford (Mom Ford) of Hartford and later Del Rio community. How did Haskell meet his future wife? He was stationed at Shaw Field in Sumter and met Annie Coulter through mutual friends. John David also has children:Dwayne Haskell Ford of Gulfport, Mississippi and Amy Lynn Ford (Fore) of Gulfport. She only had to change one letter in her married name. Dwayne is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter and Amy Lynn is SE Regional Resource Manager for American Medical Response.
What's the Mississippi connection I wondered? Dad was stationed at Kessler in Biloxi during that time and John David was there later in the 1970's during his Air Force duty. It is interesting that neither Haskell nor his father played music and only Dr. Nathan Ford survives of the Ford brothers.
John David did broaden his education at Ringling School of Art and Harris School of Advertising Art. He put some years in at the Plain Talk as a graphic artist. He helped me with historic photos of Newport book,too. Now he work for "the best grocery store in town,"K-VA-T (Food City) in advertising for 14 years, at the Abingdon corporate office. He is responsible for corporate brand packaging/design. "I have designed well-known brands such as Terry's Classic Snacks and Kay's Classic Ice Cream." So you can see creativity comes natural to him and he played guitar before picking up banjo. He learned banjo from an art school friend, one of Uncle Dave Macon's (the original Opry Star's)great grandsons. Banjo pickers were on both sides of his family. "An uncle on my mom's side flailed the fire out of 'Old Joe Clark.' Momma says it's the only song he knew. I am also a direct descendant of the famous 'Yellow Cat' Ford from Hartford, who skinned a neighbor's yellow cat to make a banjo hide. So I guess you can say it's in the blood."
John David's music career covers at least 28 years. He played venues with acts like Grandpa & Ramona Jones, John Hartford, the Lantana Drifters, Starday recording artist Bill Napier, and, most recently,Shady Grove, from Strawberry Plains. He has appeared on the Heartland Series many times and Smoky Mountain Hymns videos. But his claim to fame is the song he wrote in 1998, "They Called Us Tennessee Trailer Trash," and recorded the same with Shady Grove. You may have heard this song as it got a lot of play statewide on most stations. "It's the Volunteer Nation ya know! I got calls from radio stations as far off as Memphis wanting me to send them a CD.Recently I played the Blue Plate Special Live at WDVX Radio downtown Knoxville.It's like the old Mid Day Merry go Round."
The Grand Ole Opry probably isn't going to call David Ford anytime soon, if at all. Too bad, they are missing a talented fellow. He hasn't made much money with his music skills but as he said, "Honestly, I don't think I could have made it through hard times without my banjo to keep my cheese from sliding off the cracker."
"It has meant so much to me personally and opened a lot of doors to meet and become friends with people I otherwise would not have known, like John Hartford, who became my friend over the years at the Tennessee Homecoming in Norris. I remember taking one of my buddies there one year and going back stage to jam when John walked out and said, 'Hey, David, good to see you. My buddy.' As you can imagine, my friend looked at me with big eyes and said, 'He knows you?'" And there are the things he will never forget, like meeting Grandpa Jones for the first time at Norris and getting a compliment and hug from him after his performance made the day. "But of all the stars I met I am proudest to know how much my Dad Haskell was proud of my ability. He was always approached by people he knew in town with compliments like, 'That Ford boy plays Cripple Creek so clear you can see the minnows swimming.' I knew he was proud of me and that meant everything." For those who recall Haskell, he has the most pleasant temperament, much as seen in Dr. Ford, who I am proud to count as my friend for almost 40 years at the Plain Talk.
John David said that musicians are "a good lot of kind souls and when they connect playing from their heart, It's a bond for life, just like a brother or sister." John David read Just Plain Talk and was glad to see names of his friends and photos too. He praised Jimmy Gilliam and his brother O'Dean Gilliam. "These guys are great musicians and over the years in Newport they helped me develop as a banjo player more than anyone. We would literally play until 4:00 in the morning two or three nights a week. The Gilliam brothers are two kind fellows that really helped me and believed in me. Any aspiring player should seek out musicians of this caliber to improve themselves. It's rare to find folks that will pick at the drop of a hat, all day and night. It's the only way you get better."
Plain Talk readers may have seen the adv. announcing that the Hillbilly Music Barn will be moving to Newport making it more accessible. John David used to be a regular at the Music Barn in Del Rio but has not been back for years. "But I sure miss playing with Jeff Webb, Ty Cooper, and Charles Crowder and all the other fine musicians in the area." Here are some other connections he made for us:
Favorite Banjo player and most influence on my style:
The late great Don Reno.
Favorite fiddler:
No one beats Mike Grove, Newport.
Favorite mandolin:
Charlie Crowder, Newport.
Favorite Guitar:
Jim and O'Dean Gilliam, Tim Coggins, Newport.
Favorite bass:
Jim Gilliam and Jack Pack, Newport.
Future projects:
Would like to make a CD of our music with some of my friends for posterity.
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, d. 21 Nov 2006 (Age 78 years)