BIO
Ford Collier is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and session musician who specialises in the instrumental folk music of the British Isles and has extensively studied Indian and Middle Eastern percussion techniques and rhythms. He is a top-class player of the low whistle, with a vast traditional Irish repertoire and mastery of contemporary techniques pioneered by players such as Brian Finnegan and Michael McGoldrick. He is also an accomplished performer of Celtic-style guitar accompaniment and melody, and has studied lapstyle frame drum with percussion master Yshai Afterman. Ford’s journey into percussion began with learning tabla during his music degree, which ignited a passion and curiosity for instruments, textures, and traditional styles from various different cultures. He is constantly seeking to learn new skills, absorb new ideas, and deepen his understanding of rhythm.
In over a decade of professional music, he has extensively toured the UK and NZ and written, produced, and recorded multiple albums to critical acclaim; mainly with his Indian classical/folk crossover band Mishra, who are Celtic Connections Danny Kyle award winners. Mishra’s latest album is a collaboration with international Indian fusion vocalist Deepa Shakthi, developed during an Arts Council funded tour and described by Songlines Magazine as a ‘profound and joyful fusion’. He also performs with his musical partner Kate Griffin in the duo Griffin and Collier, and the two of them composed the original soundtrack for a new production of The Secret Garden at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2024.
Ford formed his first band The Drystones as a fiddle and guitar duo with school friend Alex Garden. From humble beginnings busking the streets of Somerset, they went onto play to crowds of up to 9000, perform at festivals including Glastonbury, and release 4 studio albums, with their last albums Apparitions and Vulpus fusing electronic music with contemporary folk. Through the Drystones, Ford met percussion maestro Evan Carson, who is now a long-time collaborator and co-composer.
Outside of his work with bands as a performer and recording artist, Ford has a wide and varied experience in diverse musical settings. With charities Live Music Now and Concerteenies, Ford has delivered interactive performances and workshops for SEN children, elderly care patients and dementia sufferers, and children of all ages including babies in neonatal care. In 2024 he performed in the band and on stage in the Cbeebies Christmas panto. He is an experienced educator, and teaches annually on the Young Folk courses at Halsway Manor National Centre for the Folk Arts, teaching instrumental folk, song, and storytelling. He also delivers the annual Priddy Rising project at Wells Blue School in Somerset, funded by Priddy Folk Festival, in which he leads 25 secondary school students, many of whom have no experience of folk music, to create and perform an hour’s concert on the main-stage of the festival. As well as workshops at festivals and outdoor spaces, Ford is an experienced one on one instrumental tutor of low whistle and guitar.