Robben Ford & The Blue Line "Mystic Mile"

For Robben Ford & The Blue Line's second release on Stretch Records, Robben Ford reveals himself to be a budding songwriter as well as one of the great guitarists of the past decade. "I have always been a player," says the one-time guitarist for The Yellowjackets and the Miles Davis band. "I've always been coming much more from the instrument, getting my inspiration from players like John Coltrane and Miles Davis and people like that. Its pretty new to me to be concentrating on songwriting but I've really been doing it a lot over the last three years, and I think finally something original is starting to come about." The title track of "Mystic Mile" is perhaps the best example of his daring new direction that Ford has taken. He attributes the inspiration for this moody composition to Bob Dylan's haunting "Man in The Long Black Coat." Another tune that shows Robben's growth as a songwriter is the gentle acoustic "Trying To Do The Right Thing," a personal statement of devotion to his wife.