story and photo by Michael Todd
Chris Ford checks the camera framing his Conquered Choir.
Through the lens, it’s a bit hard to distinguish some of the 25 or so faces. But judging from their apparent rigidness, these soon-to-be singers seem to be wondering exactly what it is they’ll be singing.
Some clasp their hands in front them. Others stiffly await the performance with arms at their sides. Still others hold instruments. Ford asks the cameraman, “Do you want to be creative with it? That would be awesome if we could do that.”
As he steps to the front of the group, Ford adjusts his hat, finds his footing and straightens his back. He belts the first line, “We-eeee shall not,” stretches out his hands, and taps the air with his baton as the choir joins him: “We shall not be moved.”
The magic of it all isn’t in Ford’s flourishes alone. No, the magic of this scene — the 15th installment of a video series, produced every week this year — lives mostly in Ford’s power, or simply, his willingness, to bring together a crowd and sing a spiritual.
It’s this same relentless belief in music that led Ford to cofound the Maximum Ames Project with his similarly fiercely good-natured friend Nate Logsdon, who fronts the band Mumford’s. Aside from releasing records, cultivating a community and presenting concerts — including a yearly festival — Maximum Ames, Ford says, is a group of people “defining music or any art or creation by the place from which it comes rather than by some conception of a genre.”
And the place from which it comes is Iowa.
“Nobody expects anything from us,” Ford says of his state, “so it’s easy for us to create our own little bubbles of awesomeness.”
Sound familiar?
This Sunday at Duffy’s Tavern, before Ford takes the stage as Christopher the Conquered, he says he will focus in on the moment and the environment, think about why he’s there and what the point of it is. In what’s become an onstage ritual, he will consider how he can make a meaningful experience for himself and for people there.
“The point is a full respect of people’s time,” he says. He’ll reiterate that point on Tuesday in Omaha at The Waiting Room.
“Music is part of how a community behaves, and I think that’s a theme in communities in places like Iowa and Nebraska: a unified, respectful environment for creative people.”
Supplementing his work with Maximum Ames, Ford also wears a variety of hats for the Des Moines Music Coalition, which hosts the annual 80/35 festival. Among his many duties as administrator, Ford helps coordinate volunteers and musicians, works on the website, and seeks donors and grant money.
And somehow, by a feat of good time management, Ford has produced his weekly videos, which have compelled him to learn and film 29 cover songs so far. He’s finished writing his next album’s worth of material, which follows 2012’s The Fate Of A Good Man and will be recorded in March 2014 in Memphis.
As captured at Duffy’s Tavern in October 2012 as part of Lincoln Calling, it’s Ford’s cadence, his reverend-like rhythm of speaking in between sung parts that helps draw in a crowd of strangers, and perhaps encourages them to sing along.
“Sincerity is what drives that style,” Ford says. “I want to talk something out. So rather than focus in on a song, rather than just singing it — which can be robotic if you’ve done it a million times — the way I find what that means to me in that moment is talking it out.
Through the cover songs he’s committed to this year, Ford says he’s become more adept at developing the left-hand parts of his piano playing for gospel-like soul songs. He’s learned through cover songs such as Harry Nilsson’s "Life Line," Randy Newman’s “Happy” and Tom Waits’ “Bottom Of The World.” He’s honed in on how certain forms of a chord might influence its sound, and what makes each combination of notes powerful.
“I think [the video series] has just been a great catalyst for me becoming a better songwriter,” he says. “Hopefully, we’ll see that when I make another album (laughs).”
Michael Todd is Hear Nebraska’s managing editor. He hopes the designated driver made it home safely that night. Reach Michael at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.