Dangerous Man

Ron Blaylock

James "T-Model" Ford, 89, still plays the blues and drinks Jack Daniels.

by Carl Gibson
November 4, 2009

Gritty distortion lingers in the speakers as James Louis Carter "T-Model" Ford politely nods at his cheering fans and briefly puts his guitar in his lap. He produces a flask from his jacket pocket and unscrews the lid.

"What time is it, T?" asks someone in the audience.

The 89-year-old takes a swig and bares his teeth.

"It's Jack Daniels time!"

The audience laughs and cheers even louder.

Describing the octogenarian bluesman as a colorful character would be equivalent to describing the Gulf of Mexico as damp. He's living proof that anyone can learn a musical instrument, no matter what age or condition.

"I can't read, I can't write, I can't spell my real name," T-Model says. "I didn't put my hand on a guitar until I was 58 years old."

T-Model's music is excellent in its rawness and simplicity. He won't be remembered for his guitar abilities, although his playing is passionate and soulful. He won't be remembered for his singing prowess, although his lyrics embody the spirit of a world-weary bluesman. Like Bob Dylan, T-Model Ford will be remembered for his attitude, heart and gift for storytelling.

T-Model said his biggest influences have always been Delta blues greats Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, whom he has been listening to since his teenage years. T-Model still remembers the first song he ever played.

The song was "How many more years baby you gonna dog me around" by Howlin' Wolf. "And that's what I come out playin' when I picked up a guitar and caught myself tryin' to play," Ford says.

Bassist Eric Deaton has known T-Model for several years. While they don't turn on the radio much on long road trips, he said T-Model will always listen to old Delta blues recordings.

"Anytime we get on the road, T always asks me to put in a Muddy Waters CD," Deaton says.

Before his days as a blues guitarist, the Forest native lived a life that would make DMX blush. He was once sentenced to 10 years on a chain gang for murder, although he only ended up serving two.

"I was the devil when I was a younger man," T-Model says. "I was the type of man who'd walk up to you, laugh at you and knock the hell outta you."

T-Model said his roughest days were more than 30 years ago, when he first started playing out. He recalled a story from playing a club in Greenville.

"I slapped a man—he was 6 foot tall, workin' for the city. He snatched a cigarette outta my mouth," T-Model says. "I took my strap off, set my guitar down. He pulled a pistol out. When he pulled that pistol, I slapped him. Blood went everywhere. He bawled. I looked down, kicked him all upside the head. He didn't get up. I heard he had a stroke after that. I don't think he ever came back to Greenville. I didn't feel sorry for him."

T-Model Ford describes his reputation as a "sure enough dangerous man."

"I didn't let nobody whoop me. I didn't argue with you. Like I tell you, me and you get in an argument, I'll done hit you before you know it. I didn't care how big you were, ain't nobody ever whooped me before. Even in the shape I'm in, I don't think anybody could whoop me now," he says.

Today, T-Model is a devout Christian. He says he turned his life around after he was nearly crushed inside his car eight years ago.

"A tree fell on me, and the good Lord is takin' care of me, cause that tree laid on me 30 minutes before they got it off of me," Ford says. "It broke my arm, broke my hands. I believe it broke my legs, but the doctor said it didn't."

"The good Lord kept me livin. So now, I ain't got no dirt in me. I like the white peoples now."

Ford says even in his late 80s, he feels just as spry as he did when he was 20. He attributes that to his life as a traveling bluesman.

"I feel just as good as I ever felt in my life right now," he says. "I don't be sick, neither. Anytime anybody calls me to go, I'm ready. I don't turn down nothin'."

To hear T-Model or find out about upcoming shows, visit his myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/tmodelford.

posted by Wintrhop Sargent on 11/16/09 at 02:51 PM