Robben Ford announces new album, “Two Shades of Blue”
Robben Ford has announced a new studio album, Two Shades Of Blue, set for release on March 27, 2026 via Provogue/Artone. The album’s first single, “Make My Own Weather,” is available now.
The record opens with “Make My Own Weather,” a groove-driven blues track that highlights Ford’s rhythmic approach and guitar tone. “That’s one of my favorite straight-up, slamming blues things I’ve ever written,” says Ford. “It’s about a guy reclaiming his freedom. I tried to create the rumble of a motorcycle with the rhythm guitar.”
Two Shades Of Blue was recorded in both the U.S. and the U.K. with two different bands and evolved during the sessions. The album moves between funk-blues songs and instrumental tracks, reflecting Ford’s long-standing interest in pushing beyond stylistic boundaries. “I have that curse,” Ford says. “I don’t have two records that sound the same…”
A five-time Grammy nominee, Ford has spent more than five decades moving between blues, jazz, rock, and fusion. His career began in the 1960s backing Charlie Musselwhite and working with Jimmy Witherspoon, followed by his role in Tom Scott’s L.A. Express during the 1970s. That group later collaborated with Joni Mitchell on two albums, a period Ford has described as “the most formative two years of my musical life.”
Ford went on to tour with George Harrison and collaborate with artists including Bonnie Raitt and Bob Dylan. He also performed with Miles Davis in the mid-1980s, an experience he recalls vividly. “I’m out there on the bandstand and this rocket ship takes off,” he says. “For my solo, I put my head down and played every note I knew, as fast as I could. I look up, and Miles just goes: ‘Yeah’. And I’m like, ‘OK, he likes it’.”
The album was loosely inspired by Ford’s move to London and initially conceived as a tribute project. “The way this album started, I planned it as a tribute to Jeff Beck,” Ford explains. “Meanwhile, the Guitar Dojo had reinvigorated my playing, so writing instrumental music became fresh for me again. I didn’t own a Stratocaster, so I literally went out and bought one for this project. Then Daniel Steinhardt from That Pedal Show put together a new pedalboard for me, along the lines of what Jeff Beck was using. I wanted to do something different, set myself a challenge.”
Recording sessions at Eastcote Studios featured a U.K.-based lineup including drummer Ianto Thomas, keyboardist Jonny Henderson, bassist Robin Mullarkey, and a brass section with Paul Booth, Ryan Quigley, and Trevor Mires. “Great cats,” Ford says. “London has been incredible for finding musicians. This place is loaded, even better for me than Nashville or L.A.”
Additional musicians appear on the album’s instrumental tracks, including bassist Darryl Jones, keyboardist Larry Goldings, and drummer Gary Husband on “The Fire Flute,” “The Light Fandango,” and “Feeling’s Mutual.”
At 74, Ford says his enthusiasm for recording remains strong. “I still love to play,” he says. “I’ve kept writing better music and become more acquainted with what it is to make a record. The fact that I’m all over the place musically has confused some people over the years. But I always need a change. I always want to do something different. And I’ve been that way since the very beginning…”
TRACK LIST
- Make My Own Weather
- Jealous Guy
- Perfect Illusion
- Black Night
- Two Shades Of Blue
- The Fire Flute
- The Light Fandango
- Feeling’s Mutual
