On State of Mind, Ken includes an additional treat to close out the seven-song EP, with two bonus tracks of fan favorites, “Strung Out” and “Moments in Love”. Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer, writer and composer Colin “Sharloboy” Morrison (The Temptations, Chanté Moore), SweatBox Productions (Killer Mike, Jay West), and Ken Ford in Georgia, State of Mind is a bite-sized taste of Ken’s enormous talents and electricity as a performer. The album features songwriting by Ken, as well as Morrison and Jennifer “Jenny Lee” Nelson, with all live instruments and Ken improvising all of his solos. About this method, Ken says, “I want all my solos to be fresh and new, natural, so I don’t write out the solo part, just playing what I feel”.

Growing up in a home filled with the diverse sounds of jazz, blues, and R&B, from the records his dad spun as a DJ to hearing the sounds of Earth, Wind & Fire and other acts in concert, Ken was born in St. Louis, MO and lived in Detroit, MI before his parents settled in Atlanta, GA. His parents recognized a special gift in their
only child one night when they overheard him at a party, playing along with an Al Green song note for note on a toy keyboard – long before his first music lesson! From that point on, they kept an instrument in his hands but he never had a formal lesson until he settled on violin at age nine, picking violin in class to be different from his peers.

With a great curiosity for music, Ken’s connection with the violin was cemented upon hearing his dad’s Noel Pointer album in elementary school, with the celebrated jazz violinist being his first and most important influence. Hearing Pointer’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)”, Ken says, “He was the first music I heard that I realized you can do something different on violin besides classical”. In his classical training, Ken became a founding member of the DeKalb Youth Pops Orchestra, and joined the African American Philharmonic Orchestra (AAPO), where he had the rare opportunity of performing for the late, great Barry White and worked his way to the honored position of Concert Master. During his school years, he also trained himself to play by ear the popular music on the radio, which marked a turn-around with kids jamming to his performances instead of teasing him for studying violin.

Early in his career, Ken followed his passion for violin but lived a dual life, working as an IT programmer while honing and indulging his love of music at night, bringing his violin everywhere to jam at some of Atlanta’s hottest jazz spots. He established himself on the scene with local artists and newcomers such as saxophonist Mike Phillips, attracting more and more fans and attention from national and international promoters and peers. From his first CD, Burnt Toast to Chevelle Lane and his last release, Right Now, Ken’s exhilarating performances have left music lovers awestruck, with some of his most memorable accolades including a standing ovation from over 20,000 people at the Sea Breeze Jazz Festival, being the first opening artist to ever get a standing ovation at the Omaha Riverfront Jazz Festival and first repeat artist on the same festival, receiving at least three proclamations (Ken Ford Holidays) from three cities in GA, and more.

Since his first taste of music and captivating audiences as a kid, Ken’s love of music continues and he is sharing that love through the Ken Ford Foundation. Teaching workshops to kids from ages 4 to 18, Ken opens their world to music, shows them how to embrace their unique talents, and encourages keeping music education in the schools. “Once music opens their world, you cannot close it,” he says. “Living in the present moment” as a constant frame of mind, Ken’s steadfast passion for violin and popular music has brought him from childhood to where he is today, indulging his passion for violin full-time before worldwide audiences, firing up everyone
from kids to seniors to change their State of Mind about the violin, and embrace the power of music.