S2: E12: Jenn Ford - An East Texas Veteran

Jenn Ford Mixdown Master

Mon, 4/18 8:52PM • 1:11:28

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

play, song, music, band, military, people, absolutely, army, backstage pass, write, texas, called, years, soldier, guess, big, musicians, record, friends, feel, Kilgore, Texas, The Wide Eyed Devils, Jenn Ford, Jenn Ford Music, Armed Forces, East Texas, Interview, Podcast, Best Music Podcast, Randy Hulsey, Hulsey, Randy Hulsey Music, Randy Hulsey Podcast, Backstage Pass Radio, Backstage Pass Radio Podcast, Best Podcast On The Internet

SPEAKERS

Randy Hulsey, Jenn Ford, Adam Gordon

Randy Hulsey  00:00

Hey everyone. My chat today is with a talented singer songwriter that was born in East Texas and calls the city of Kilgore home. She has served our country proudly and is a veteran of the United States Army and you can find her play in her music all over the great state of Texas and across the country. Stay with me,

Adam Gordon  00:17

we will take that highway 20 ride into the city of Kilgore and chat with Gen. Ford when we come back. This is backstage pass radio, the podcast that's designed for the music junkie with a thirst for musical knowledge. Hi, this is Adam Gordon. And I want to thank you all for joining us today. Make sure you like subscribe and turn the alerts on for this and all upcoming podcasts. And now here's your host of backstage pass radio, Randy Halsey.

Randy Hulsey  00:53

Jen Ford, welcome to the show. Oh, how are you? I'm good. We finally get to chat. We've been I guess, going back and forth and back and forth over text for some time now. But the big day has finally come. So it's nice to see you. And thanks for taking the time to chat with me today.

Jenn Ford  01:11

Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here. Yes. Holidays.

Randy Hulsey  01:15

Yeah. You were telling me before we started recording about the boys that you have to feed and, boy, that's an undertaking, right? But when you have big boys, they they tend to eat a lot. So good luck on Thanksgiving Day. What those guys right?

Jenn Ford  01:33

Well, we can already we're gonna do it early because my youngest son is in the playoffs. And we're really excited about that. They have a walkthrough on Thursday. So I don't even know if we're going to be able to sit down and have a meal. I mean, what will eat something but that nobody's gonna even be working for me to cook that day. I have to say my mother in law's eat her food.

Randy Hulsey  01:55

Well, I was gonna say with boys that size that you were telling me you're gonna have to feed them something because I don't think nothing is going to suffice. Right. So that's just an educated guess on my part. We'll get them fed. There you go. Now you were born and raised in East Texas and was that Kilgore? Or were you actually born somewhere else and then moved to Kilgore?

Jenn Ford  02:18

Actually, my dad was a Marine, and I'm the oldest of four and I was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Okay, and they're from Texas. My parents are from Pasadena, Texas. And their grandparents are from North Texas and East Texas. So we came back to Texas when I was just a baby. I was less than a year old. And then we moved up to East Texas when I was about seven. I think so I grew up here basically,

Randy Hulsey  02:46

for the most part. Yeah. Interesting. Well, so I grew up in Pasadena, myself, and I graduated from high school and in the Pasadena School District, even though I didn't go to Pasadena High School. I went to another high school in the district, which I think at the time, there were only four, four high schools in the Pasadena. Yeah. Okay. So I went to South Houston. So yeah, there you go. Whoa, small world. So there

Jenn Ford  03:12

have been married for almost 45 years.

Randy Hulsey  03:15

Wow. And still going strong. Right.

Jenn Ford  03:18

Yes. honoree?

Randy Hulsey  03:22

She puts up with him I'm sure. Right. There. It is. Usually one offsets the other and my case here like Terry's the level headed one and offsets my ways, right. So she has to put up with me. They're both hard headed. In that case, they're both Oh, yeah. Well, that's that. Well, that's, that's a testament to hardheaded two alphas like living in the same house that can be kind of devastating sometime, but they found a way to make it work, apparently. So what kept you busy? As a kid growing up small town, Texas, like what? What were you doing as a kid?

Jenn Ford  04:04

Well, I'm the oldest of four. And so I did a lot of babysitting, but grew up in church. I've always been used to cool. I've always been a entertainer. I've always wanted to be in front of people. I used to make skits and create whole things for birthday parties. We had a piano in the dining room, and I was always getting in trouble for playing it for hours on end. And when I got older, they actually put me in piano lessons learned in high school band high school choir. So I've always been trying to be on stage somewhere.

Randy Hulsey  04:37

That's really cool. That's cool. That just sounds like what you know, if you ask me the same question, I was kind of like that, too. Like I grew up with. It seemed like every kid on my street was female. And so I grew up with my brother and I grew up with nothing but females. And it seemed like, there were three or four of those girls that were singers also and we would always when the parents would get together, we would always go Create the singing groups, but for some reason they never let me be the lead singer. I always had to be the backup singer. So I think I was slighted there. Yeah, I know. Y'all were like that. Yeah, I was dominated by the girls. But anyway, it all worked out. You said it, not me. I wasn't gonna go there. But anyway. So Tracy and Kim, if you're listening to the show, you guys were bossy. And Jen said so. So there we go. We finally debunked. Yes, that's correct.

Jenn Ford  05:29

Corral. And the boys because y'all are usually climbing trees and trying to bring home frogs. And we want you to be players in our in our grand production. That's

Randy Hulsey  05:39

right. That's right. Y'all are trying to be stars of tomorrow, right? Yeah. Now, did you join the service right out of high school? Was it after graduation that you went into the service?

Jenn Ford  05:51

No, I went to college, at Panola college on a vocal music scholarship for two years, and really had always wanted to travel. And I've always done what my parents wanted me to do. And my dad was sick and has been sick since I was in middle school. And so like, I was kind of like a people pleaser, and I wanted to make everybody happy. Sure. But on the inside, there was a wild child that wanted to travel, and explore and get out of small town. Yeah, nice. Texas do things. And so kind of on a whim. I mean, I guess I've always thought about it. But you know it back in the 90s. It wasn't a typical thing for, for women to just go sign up. And I didn't want anybody to tell me what to do anymore. So join the army. Really, they tell you what to do all the time.

Randy Hulsey  06:48

You went to the wrong place to not be told what to do, right?

Jenn Ford  06:51

Yeah. Why just want to financial independence? Yes, I wanted the opportunities to go and see and do stuff. And I accomplished all of that in the military, and was even able to get back into music in the military. So I'm very proud of my service. I met my kids dad in service, and we traveled all over the place. So I got what I wanted. And then I came back to East Texas.

Randy Hulsey  07:17

There you go. First and foremost, thank you for your service. And I guess the encouragement, really behind the service? Is it safe to say it was the travel portion? Is that why you join so you could kind of see the world on their dial,

Jenn Ford  07:31

discipline, structure, confidence, all of those things. Because it's not just about being a soldier. There's there's things that you've learned about yourself when under pressure, and you get to see what your limits are and how far you can push yourself. And so there's to a certain degree, I feel like that I can accomplish anything, because in the military, you have to dig a moat around this 2000 square foot structure. Here's this. Here's a straw on a spoon Megan had

Randy Hulsey  08:05

Rocky. Okay, I got it. Don't even get a shovel. Right?

Jenn Ford  08:09

Yeah. But you figure it out. And you figure out how to work with other people from all? Absolutely. It's, it all applies to every day. Yeah. You have to do no matter what. Yeah. So I really enjoyed my time, there were some negative parts. But I think that's with anything, and I am proud of my military service. That's

Randy Hulsey  08:33

awesome. Well, I play golf, this past week with a customer of mine that I found out on the golf course, he was a Marine. And one of the other guys had asked him something about being a Marine. He said, Well, I usually don't talk much about if somebody asked that I'll talk about it. But they were I guess they were asking him how it was being, you know, active duty, a Marine. And he said, Well, they know how to make things suck quite a bit. You know, it's just like it like you said, they kind of tear you down, build you up. And you learn a lot about yourself during those times what you're capable of what you're not capable of. And when you find the things that you're not capable of, you figure out how to be capable of doing those things.

Jenn Ford  09:17

You learn a lot about values too, and like what it takes to basically be a good person and to trust other people to be good people. Because you learn a lot about people period and having to work with different personalities. I really can't say that enough. And I think that once you get out of the military and you meet somebody who has served that just certain degree of respect, kind of like a fraternity or you know, maybe like the the Elks Lodge or something like that. You just kind of shake your head like you did it, you get we have things in common immediately that are different than the average person especially as a woman Yeah. Um, a lot of people don't expect that. I mean, I've talked openly about it, but they don't expect that when I walk into somewhere that I'm a vet and score to get marginalized a little bit like, it's just the girl. First of all, that's right. Anyway, but I'm like, Dude, I've lived in the woods way more than

10:18

that's pretty much a weapon.

Randy Hulsey  10:20

That's a whole bunch of stuff. Absolutely. That's pretty amazing. And I had a interview with Deanna Wheeler. And she's, you know, a vet, as well and has a lot of stories about the military. You said that you did come from a military family, your dad was a Marine. Now was mom, was she a service person? Or was she never she wasn't? What about siblings? Were they my brother

Jenn Ford  10:45

actually served in the Army and National Guard, and he was in Afghanistan as a combat medic. My primary job in the military was military bliss. Okay. But once people figured out that I could sing, then I got picked up for special duty with Army bands and army entertainment division for about six years.

Randy Hulsey  11:05

So 11 total? Love it. Okay, so 11 years active, will tell the listeners a little bit and myself included, I'm not a service person. I don't play one on TV. I don't know, of course, I know what I hear or what you see on TV. But tell us about that role. What is the military police? What was your role as a military police?

Jenn Ford  11:30

Um, well, my first duty station was Korea, and I was just, uh, you know, private, or whatever. So I was like a gunner. And that's the low man on the totem pole, where you sit in the tour and a Humvee and you, you have two different types of duties. Basically, if you have a field duty, like something you would do in combat a combat role, and then you have a garrison duty. And garrison is more like just normal police work on posts, to patrol cars and stuff like that and carry a pistol. And you do a risk. We do cases and all that stuff, but as a combat in a combat mission or a combat mode, because they have training schedules that kind of rotate out where you are always training on, on both of those things. I was a gunner. And then you move up to different positions, eventually become a team leader, and a driver, all that stuff. And you're, it's just as you learn more about land navigation and route recon, and just how to lead than your responsibilities increase. By the time I got out, I was a squad leader and assistant platoon sergeant for a few months while my mom platoon sergeant was training somewhere else. So basically, you're working hand in hand in this echelon of organization and you work your way up, and I worked my way up to a staff sergeant ASICs

Randy Hulsey  12:58

but where does the military police stop and local law enforcement begins? Right? What is the delineation jurisdictions are delineation between, like who can do what or whatever.

Jenn Ford  13:13

Usually, primary jurisdiction on post is military police, there are situations where you share jurisdiction, like when I was stationed at Fort Bliss, I worked range patrol, which isn't the same as being on a gun range, it was I was on McGregor range, and I was out there driving up and down all the paths, you know, checking routes and stuff, because there's a lot of border crossings that were going on. So we're just keeping an eye on that. But there were shared parts of the highway, where there weren't enough people to be out there all the time. So either I would be up there or another officer, my state, maybe a state police or, you know, a local police officer sheriff's go out there. So it just depends. And I guess maybe because the highways are shared, okay. Some of these routes where they go kind of in between? That makes sense. You know, regular office, yes.

Randy Hulsey  14:10

Whatever. So, but generally speaking, do the MPs, are you only, you're only on certain for military things going on? Or is it civilian things as well?

Jenn Ford  14:22

Typically, yes. Unless you're doing stuff in a wartime mission envoys or that makes you're moving personnel? It just depends. Okay. But typically, our focus is military. Okay. Our distinction is there. Well, thanks

Randy Hulsey  14:40

for clarifying that. That helps me because I never really knew and of course, not being a service person. And of course, you don't really know the details of that. So, again, thank you for sharing. But you also mentioned that you toured with the United States Army soldier show, what is that? And how were you involved in that?

Jenn Ford  15:00

Okay, well, actually a few years ago, they disbanded it. But back during I guess World War Two right after Irving Berlin started, Soldier show similar to uso tours and stuff like that. And they would take soldiers and put on like a big production and go around and entertain. So by the time in 2001, when I was in the show, you go through an audition process for basically would submit a video of yourself performing, introducing yourself and send all your military records in so they can make sure that you conduct matches up. And then they would bring you in and audition you with like 30 or 40 other soldiers and then pick the top how many ever so I got selected, and then you go through a two month time, where they put together a show from the bottom up based on everybody's talents. And they take like a Billboard Top 40 songs and then created the 80 minute show and we learned all about setup, how to set up lights, sound and we were the tech crew as well as the the performers. And we went on the road for six months. So we traveled on a tour bus, we stayed in hotels, we did matinees, sometimes two shows a day. But typically we would do like two or three shows and each duty station I think there was like 50 different locations over 106 shows or something like that, over a six month period

Randy Hulsey  16:26

where you were like a rock star as a enlisted service person, right.

Jenn Ford  16:31

I mean, it was a lot of fun. Yeah, I bet. I got to go to Guam, Hawaii, Korea, which had already been stationed in Korea as an MP, basically every duty station in the continental US and performing in front of audiences. Like 1000s of people ever thought

Randy Hulsey  16:49

that was super cool. Well, my mom had worked for a government contractor for a while that made tactical army vehicles. And they had been awarded a big contract. And there was a big army show up in Washington, DC, and she went for that annual show. And she took my dad and I, in the hotel that we were in, we heard all this commotion and we came out of the room. And we later found out of course, we sat and watched him but it was the 82nd airborne choir that was singing in the lobby. I think they're also probably referred to as maybe the Fort Bragg singers, I don't know, they might go by different names. But these guys were phenomenal. Like the singers, it was all acapella. And it was the most cool thing ever it and it was such a proud feeling because everything that they were singing about was, you know, Ballad of the Greenbrae and things of that nature, right. And it was just so cool. Especially a civilian listening to this. So it was kind of a window into their, their, their world, you know, jumping from the plane while and fly, you know, and that that kind of thing. 82nd airborne and whatnot. But that was really cool. Were you familiar with who I'm talking about? Yes.

Jenn Ford  18:10

The good thing about music and the military is there's a long history of it being a morale booster, okay. And I think it's, it's just goes to show that music is a universal language, and that it's necessary and it's healing and absolutely, at second, I think is generally all male course. But I was in the US Army's Europe soldiers band, and course, over in Heidelberg, Germany, and I was also in the 62nd Army Band for bliss. It's named something different now. But they, most of the musicians in the army bands have at least a bachelor's if not a master's degree, and they're highly educated. And they come in at a higher rank because of their college education. And I didn't have the identifier, because at the time, they didn't have a vocal identifier, it was just a special duty. But I would say that my time with military bands was like, the time where I truly learned what it was like to be in a professional group. Okay, as of the amount of practice the the high profile gigs that we played it, we played NFL world bowl in 2007, in front of 40,000 people. And we were constantly in front of dignitaries, we always had to wear our uniforms and always had to look, you know, the power, we still had to do all of our training and all of our physical fitness and all of that and be on our best behavior, but because basically, we're like the mouthpiece for the military, the best of the best

Randy Hulsey  19:40

and no pressure, right?

Jenn Ford  19:43

Well, I mean, you'd have to represent Absolutely, it, sort of like we're ambassadors for the military, too. So all of these different countries that we played in and all of these different people and it was it was a great joy to do it. And the people that I was in those groups with, I'm still friends with like on social media. We're like family because we spend so much time together and rehearsals. Yes road. And my kids, Dad, we were actually in soldier show together. We were married for two years. And he's a musician as well. So my kids were born in the music because of the opportunities that the military gave to me. I was able to have my children when I was in serving in that way, because at the time, September 11, had just happened. And I was already in the army entertainment portion. So they just kind of kept me there, basically. And I know that if I had been serving with my veteran brothers or sisters that were in peace, I would have been overseas constantly and probably not at that marry probably not having kids that were that are this age now. Because it just the what the job demands very hard to raise a family when you're being deployed all

Randy Hulsey  21:00

the time. Absolutely.

Jenn Ford  21:02

I did deploy once. And that was through the army entertainment stuff. So it's, I didn't get to serve as a military police officer. I served as an entertainer.

Randy Hulsey  21:14

Okay. Now, I, when I think of you, I think of vocalist of course. A guitar player, maybe. But in the in the 62nd. Army Band. What were you playing in the band? Was it a vocalist or were you actually instrumentalists? Okay. All right.

Jenn Ford  21:32

But because I read music, they taught me how to play I'm sorry, percussion. So I learned how to play bass drum cymbals, you know, small things on the snare, and maybe like a little bit on on the xylophone or whatever. But I joke about that with my oldest son because I was pregnant with him. I was playing bass drum all through the spring, and I had a belly rest up against the bass drum. And he's a drummer, he came out

Randy Hulsey  21:58

he like he had the beat already, right? Yeah.

Jenn Ford  22:02

He's a drummer. And, and it's like in his blood in his brain, he was hearing those beats way before.

Randy Hulsey  22:11

I don't think it came out this way. But I didn't mean that you were a vocalist. Like that's not an instrument because the voice is an instrument for sure. You know that. I know that as well. I just wasn't educated to know if you were actually playing something in the band other than a vocal part. And it sounds like that that was the case say

Jenn Ford  22:31

they want you to play an instrument, usually. And especially if they know that you have a past and read music. They want to keep you working and they don't just want you sitting around like get up. It's a job. I played oboe in high school for seven years. And they kept trying to get me to play that double reed instrument but I just really wasn't that interested in it. I think I played it a few times, but and I halfway play guitar and I halfway play piano like I understand it. And I can pick out chords. But to be clear.

Randy Hulsey  22:59

For the record,

Jenn Ford  23:01

or the record, the only instrument I play on stage, the tambourine, I'm super proud of it.

Randy Hulsey  23:06

There you go. It's funny I had I had an interview recently with a guy named Tony Hazleton and he is a powerhouse songwriter, or was a powerhouse songwriter in Nashville for 30 years, he plays with a band called La Rue out of Louisiana. And he wrote hit songs for Keith Whitley and Shania Twain and George Strait and the list kind of goes on and on and on. But he mentioned in his interview, that he played the oboe in the high school band, and he said, how uncool is that to be the oboe player.

Jenn Ford  23:47

For the record, high not to send instrument, my mother. And I'm the oldest of four kids. So you know, put it together knew that I wanted to be in band and knew that that instrument was provided by the school. Yeah. And she was like, you'll be the only one and I was like, it's gonna be great. Yeah. I mean, it was kind of an honor to get to play it because you got selected, and I was good at it. But I want to, I want to find a drop,

Randy Hulsey  24:20

right? Well, I asked Tony, I said, so did you piss somebody off? Or did you just draw the draw the short straw and that's how you got stuck with the elbow or what's the deal, but it was, it was kind of a little funny segment that we did. So when you said the elbow, my mind immediately went to my interview with Tony Hazelden. You had also mentioned disbanding the group. It's my understanding that the band I think it was also known as the wasn't it known as the Military Intelligence Corps Band or something like that. But I think that they refer to it as that but I think it was 2000 A team that it actually disbanded is the

Jenn Ford  25:04

the army entertainment division. They moved. Originally they were at Fort Belvoir when I was in when I was in in 2001. And then they moved to San Antonio. And whoever got into, like, Guess the budgeting department or whatever didn't seem like there was a need for the Army entertainment division. So when they started doing military cutbacks, they're gonna start cutting the fun stuff out. Absolutely. And so that unfortunately happened. I mean, it is not. That's the multimillion dollar. Oh, yeah, to hold on, you know, to do that for several months. And I think it's a campaign of goodwill for all the military communities and it's entertainment. And and I don't know, it just goes to show that there's different sides to being a soldier. So hopefully, they'll bring it back. The have changed army bands to where now they do have vocalist as a secondary MOS, which is a job that you can add after you get your primary job. And so you have to earn that and I think you have to go to school and music for that. Okay. I think that that may be the compromise is that they've got probably better singers now. Okay. And the group that I was in in Europe is still there. It's highly celebrated over there. I Follies. most fun I've ever had in my life was in one in Europe. For years, we were just constantly at festivals and in front of huge audiences. The German and European audiences are super appreciative. Yes. It's a lot of fun. And when you have the army behind your production, it's like instant marketing. So I didn't have to do all of the hard work and logistical work that I had to do now as a as a dependent artists.

Randy Hulsey  26:55

Absolutely. I took all that for granted. Yes, well, I have a buddy that he's he's a local Texan here, but he somehow made a journey over to France, not too bad. It was before COVID But developed a huge following in France in man out of ProStart France and, and he's talked about that, about the crowds, they're, they're just so appreciative of the music and very attentive to what you're doing. You know, here in the States, it can be as you probably know, it can be hit or miss, like, who's paying attention who's not paying attention most everybody is but you know, it's

Jenn Ford  27:33

excited. They, I mean, literally, I keep saying that, because you would just see a sea of people and they would just be having a good time at paying for the artists like I sing on the outside to on my own when I didn't have shows with service, I went and had my own little groups or whatever that are, okay. It was not hard to to find a place to play and places would just be packed. They love music in Europe. Yes. Love it over there if you want to tour and you can't get some setup in the states go to Europe. And hopefully that'll be you know, in the works for me in the next two or three years as my son moves out of the house and we don't have to stay here all

Randy Hulsey  28:14

the time. Right? Well just think of how much money you're gonna have. When he moves out though from the from the food bill perspective. We will get back into that again. Oh, me from college. And never stopped. Yes. It never stops. So from a chronological perspective, set me right here was college for you. Before you went into the service, or after you got out.

Jenn Ford  28:39

I went to college a whole bunch of times. Okay. Well,

Randy Hulsey  28:43

so let me look waited

Jenn Ford  28:44

officially with my bachelor's degree in 2017. Okay, but I went to college a bunch of times for a lot of different things

Randy Hulsey  28:51

we all did. We all did, in all fairness, where I was going with that was not to put you on the spot about college in particular, but you were a vocal music major. And I was going to ask you, if you talk to the listeners about as a vocal music major, like what were you looking to do with that? I'm assuming be a performer but talk to the listeners about your background in music prior to going in college. Like were you in bands, local bands, were you not? Were you just honing your voice or whatever skills? Like oh, choir,

Jenn Ford  29:32

okay. Like the high level Choir, Choir and I was in church choir as well and high school band. So I had that every day I was performing constantly with that I competed in in high school and in college, and won awards in college,

Randy Hulsey  29:51

like the UI l type competitions or whatever. Sure. Okay. Yes,

Jenn Ford  29:55

all region, you know, all of that stuff. I did all of that soloed on site I'm all that all of this. But to be honest, I don't think that my parents expected me to pursue it. And so when I got a scholarship for music, they wanted me to have a real job. Yeah. And so they suggested that I try nursing, and I had no interest in that at all. So I think that was part of the reason why I was like, ready to get out of East Texas because I was not happy with that.

Randy Hulsey  30:33

Correct? Yeah, okay. Yeah, I

Jenn Ford  30:36

was, I was taking music theory and all of all of those things, and performing in multiple groups in college and trying to tackle the desires of my parents, which I think is pretty universal thing for musicians is that people really don't understand musicians and why and how they make money and why and how they pursue it. And it hasn't been until recently in the probably the last five years that I feel like that my parents have finally gotten it. And they, and they watch and see how hard I work. And they see how hard it's been paid off. And my husband is a great credit to that. Because I even struggled when I got out of the military, with trying to get into a careers, I tried several different careers. And all of those things apply to what I do now. And I still work, I still have a job, several jobs, several hustles several things. But it all is to be the machine of music. Absolutely. That's my passion. And that's what I hope, will eventually all pay off to where I'm only doing that full time. But I think no matter what profession you're in, you gotta have several different things going absolutely. Because anything can happen. Unfortunately, I was working for the school district, and COVID happened and everything shut down. And my husband got laid off, but I still had a job. Yes. So I was able to still buy groceries for these big honkin football players I got in my house. And then my husband's a big man as well. And he came home from the oilfield. And we were waiting on his unemployment and everything to kick in. We'd never navigated unemployment, he'd never been unemployed ever. And so fortunately, I had a job. Yes, I guess all that to say this is that it's been a roundabout way for me to pursue it. And I think at the beginning of my work, I've been with my husband for seven years at the beginning of my relationship was when I was finally like, I'm going to do this. I'm gonna sacrifice and work around whatever I have to do to be a musician, because this is my identity. And I'm not ashamed of it. And I'm not going to apologize for it anymore. And my kids understand it. And if nobody else understands if I never make it, that's fine. But I'm an artist. Yes, that's my happy place. Absolutely. So once I did that, I broke up with my husband four times, we were just dating. And he was like, oh, no, you can do music. And I was like, No, I don't think you can handle it. I don't think you know how bad I want to do this. And he was like, No, I think you should do it. I think you're great. And so we would break up for like two days and get back together. But he has been probably the biggest cheerleader for me. And just because he said yes to everything I've my wife and her brain out is it gave me the confidence to like it gave me it gave me the security to know that it was okay to just be myself.

Randy Hulsey  33:39

Absolutely. Well, thank goodness you had the fallback of the school district. I mean, just thank you, you guys would have been scratched and probably right. Like he was he was laid off? Well, no, I mean, but he was laid off. And, you know, if you were a full time musician, you know, during COVID That freakin sucked from because I know I'm not a full time musician myself. But I have friends that are and it was rough on them. I mean, where are you playing? If everything is shut down, right. So that's, that's good that you had, you know, you mentioned it earlier, you had multiple hustles and that's good for you because I have multiple hustles too. That's how I work. So I have

Jenn Ford  34:19

my barber license. I went to barber school like early 20 like 2012 Just because I felt like I need to have a trade I need to know how to do stuff. Yeah. And have my bachelor's degree in Multimedia Production. So I do social media management to I'll make a pile I'll rake the yard. I'll dig a hole.

Randy Hulsey  34:38

We had a bad Grove Street I guess I shouldn't ask if there was anything you didn't do because it sounds like you hustled like you got all these hustles right. I'm learning all these hustles about you, which is the great part of the interview. However,

Jenn Ford  34:50

he says I'm a

Randy Hulsey  34:54

jack of all trades, kind of.

Jenn Ford  34:56

I feel like that's the army in me That's gotta get done, I need to figure out how to get it done.

Randy Hulsey  35:02

Well, you have a entrepreneurial mind. And that's, that's kind of like me, I work a full time job too. I'm in sales for a living with an IT consulting firm. That's how I've always paid my mortgage. But before COVID, I was playing about 130 live shows a year myself. And this podcast takes so much time and they're like, do you ever sleep and it's like, it's just not how I'm wired. Like, I can't sit and do nothing. And I'm, I'm sure as ex military, your brain has to be wired like that. Because there was no sitting around in the service. Like, what are we going to do today? I don't know, probably because there was no such thing as that there was always something to be done. I'm sure.

Jenn Ford  35:42

It feels weird when there's idle time. And even though I make myself like Sunday is our family day where we like don't have any real plans, we usually go out to eat on Sunday. And then we lay in the bed and watch Netflix or your, you know, go grocery store or whatever. But there's no real plan. And that's because the intensity of the week is just, I mean, today, for instance, I knew that I had to do this with you. But I also have to go to my niece's birthday party and I need to go shopping and I booked a couple of different sessions with background vocals. Today, I'm planning our trip to Las Vegas, which is coming up. We've got a new setlist a new drummer. And so all of those things are happening simultaneously. And I'm planning and multitasking all day long. And just even take a shower. Sometimes it's like, oh, God, I take 20 minutes. an hour. I wrote a song in the shower today.

Randy Hulsey  36:41

Oh, funny. Well, that's right. Well, I'm glad I'm glad that was

Jenn Ford  36:47

my record label. One was like, Hey, I wrote a song and shower. All right.

Randy Hulsey  36:54

Well, I'm glad I'm glad. I'm glad that in all of those things that you have on your plate that you found time for me, so thank you for that. I was gonna ask you what bands and or musicians inspired you growing up to even become a musician? Was that why you got into it? Because you were inspired by it? Or did it just fall into your lap?

Jenn Ford  37:17

Well, I always tell a funny story on stage about my musical upbringing, because I grew up in church. And my mom has been a singer her whole life and she sang harmonies and that's where I get that from. And it was just ingrained in me. She was singing to me from the time I was little, but she didn't really let me listen to secular music. However, my dad and the pickup truck always had good stuff like Boston and CCR, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Beatles, John Denver, sticks, Chicago, you know, like, that's the kind of stuff that I would just, I could not turn off the radio. When I had a minute with it, I could not stop playing the piano when I was sitting in front of it. My grandmother had one of those old, those old Oregon's beat the be whatever, be three, three. Yeah, she had one of those. And we would go to her house for the weekend, and I would not get off of the organ. It just I was mesmerized by all the tone. And my ears. I remember laying in the bed at night, and just hearing music constantly, like whole compositions, chord structure, everything. So most of the time, when I write a song, I will already hear it in my head, and just go try to map it out make sense of it, too. So I can pass it on to the to, you know, the guys and already already hear it in a form before it's written.

Randy Hulsey  38:50

Interesting.

Jenn Ford  38:51

So I don't know, it's a language that I think I caught on to very early. And I love my mom and dad a lot. And they're super supportive now, but they didn't really support this in the beginning. They they just thought it was like a talent. And and I didn't perceive myself as pursuing it professionally until I was in the Army course and the soldier soldiers course and Army soldier show, because I just didn't think that I was going to be able to do anything with it. It wasn't around in East Texas. Nobody was embracing that. For me that was like, oh, that's you're very good singer. Sure. And I personally apologize. I felt like I or I withheld. That is my identity for so long. That I felt like I was making apologies when people would say, you know, what's your name? And I'm like, I'm Jennifer, what do you do? And oh, wow. Well, I was in the military and I liked seeing and, and it's, I guess about seven or eight years ago I started putting that at the front of my identity. So I'm Jim, and I'm a singer. I work at such and such. And, and once I started to do that, I felt like that I began to own identity, and felt more confident in that identity. It was my coming out like, look, I like to sing. Yes, the end. I like music get over it. Yeah, I'm gonna do it.

Randy Hulsey  40:22

While I was pondering that whole what you were saying a little bit? Because I think my parents were probably a little of the same way. Maybe if you were never a professional musician, maybe it seems so far fetched, like, kind of like a professional sports player. Like, what are the odds? Jennifer, of you being the next? Karen Carpenter, right? It's like, you have a better chance of winning the lottery, right is probably the thought process, I'm guessing. I don't know, right. But my mom and dad said the same thing to me. Like, you should cut your hair and you know, get get a real job kind of thing. Right? And it's like, Man, this is, you know, this is what I wanted, or this is what I think I want to do. I think to them, it was like I was living in a fantasy world. And I guess probably, to their defense, they're the, you know, the they aren't far off. Like, because the odds of somebody really striking it big like some of the bands. You mentioned Boston and sticks. You know, is it going to ever happened? Maybe maybe not? I don't know. But you got to try. Right?

Jenn Ford  41:33

I think that parents honestly need to embrace those dreams, just as they would embrace kids that play, you know, little league football and softball. Yeah, they got just excited about is they did about sports, there would be way more people pursuing music in public, we would probably get paid better, because we would be taken more seriously. Absolutely. And the reality is, you know, no matter what kind of music I write, or how much I hustle, if I don't have a good marketing plan, and investors, and if I'm not saving money for all of the things it takes, actually, the musician, it's a whole business takes 1000s of dollars to put out a song. You can sing, you can see in your house, you can play football on your front yard, but to actually put it out as a product and run it as a business monitoring much

Randy Hulsey  42:28

more than that. Yes, absolutely.

Jenn Ford  42:31

That's what I think that people don't understand when they're first getting into it. And they get discouraged. Because there's a line between loving music and understanding that it's a way of life. Absolutely. This is a way life for me. And it's a way life for my kids. And it's way off for my husband, he goes to shows me all the time and helps me sell merch he calls himself the merch guy. And he helps me do orders. And and he just puts up with my harebrained ideas, because he knows that

Randy Hulsey  43:03

he has to live with you.

Jenn Ford  43:06

For ideas, yes, I've got, you know, I'm working with what I got. Absolutely. And that. Basically, if I look at the mountain ahead of me of all the things I wish I could do, then I would get overwhelmed. But if I look behind me that everything that I've accomplished, and especially in the last four or five years, I'm like, Wow, if I hadn't even tried, I would not have even known that I was capable of doing all of these things. So I just keep taking one tiny step forward. That's all

Randy Hulsey  43:36

you can do. You have to just nibble off the loaf of bread until the whole loaf is gone. Right? I mean, you have to digest it in small pieces. I have no idea how old you are or your age. But do you ever ponder age and how it could be stacked against you in the music? Business? Yeah, I didn't. I didn't know if it was just a randy thing or and I've never even asked that question before. But something made me think of that. And I always feel like even with this podcast like, man, what if I would have done this 10 years ago? Or what if I you know, I'm always thinking about shit like that, you know?

Jenn Ford  44:16

Nobody knows how long they're gonna live. No, absolutely. And if I sat here and got frustrated, I mean, I'm, I don't care. I'm 43 years old. I don't feel 43 I feel like I'm in the prime of my life. Sure. Bonnie Raitt, Tina Turner, John Prine, Willie Nelson. They all played well into their 70s Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And, um, I've got 30 or 40 more years to play music as far as I'm concerned. And I'm happy with that. So I'm gonna do whatever I need to do to do that. I agree. I do. I do think though, it's easy to look at yourself in the mirror as you age and like, oh my god, you know, I need to color my hair. Look at these crow's feet or whatever. But It can't get wrapped up in

Randy Hulsey  45:03

that. No, you can't. And I think a lot of people, though, I think one of the reason I asked that question is not that even at 43. And I promise I wasn't trying to get you to divulge your age. Oh, it was not that that was an ally as a question. I promise. I do want to

Jenn Ford  45:18

encourage people, though, like, yes. There's people that didn't do anything miraculous until they were later in life. And I feel like right now it's perfect time to I have experience, whereas there's other Texas, female artists or male artists that come out and they have everything prepared for them. They've got parents that maybe have, you know, invested in the careers. And so they've they've star rocketed.

Randy Hulsey  45:43

Yes, yes. But I'm writing

Jenn Ford  45:47

my own songs. And I have experience to back it up.

Randy Hulsey  45:51

Yes. You know, I've

Jenn Ford  45:52

been married and divorced. I've got kids of experience, depth of experience, you know, depression, anxiety, PTSD, war, all of that stuff. And I'm looking at other people as they're just starting out just now getting married, just having kids. And I'm like, you don't even know.

Randy Hulsey  46:11

Absolutely. And they go, and you're absolutely. And I'm in the middle. It's funny that you say that I'm in the middle of editing the show, with my friend, Sandy June, who is a fellow artists here out of South Texas. And she is very open about her age. She said, I'm 55 years old. And I just, I really just got going in this. And I've played the stage with her. And she's a phenomenal singer. And she learned the guitar on our own watching YouTube videos. So it's never, I'm saying all that to say that, whether you're 4355 67 if you do what you want to do, and be happy doing it and just do it to the best of your ability is the moral of the story, I believe.

Jenn Ford  46:58

And I truly think like, that is the best advice you can give to anybody. You don't know what tomorrow holds, you don't know how much money you're gonna happen. While I used to be way better off financially, when I was in service, and I had that financial security, I had a home all those things, but the stress and the amount of work and the amount of time I spent away from my kids, especially towards the end of my career. As I was advancing, I was like, I just want to go home. I don't care. Yeah, and you know, living in small spaces. My husband and I are so ready when our youngest graduates to like, get an RV or one of those school buses and just like live small and travel big and, and go out and do things because there's so much time that you can chase the wheel, you know, get on the mouse wheel, the rat wheel rat race, whatever, and, and spin your wheels trying to make money and get ahead. And it's really the small things that count.

Randy Hulsey  48:03

Well, you said it perfectly. Yes. And you said it perfectly. Earlier, like and even Garth Brooks wrote a song called if tomorrow never comes right. You don't know what tomorrow brings. So if you're not doing all of those things that make you happy, whether it's gutting a school bus and renovating it and going on the road, like the Partridge Family, you know, that's, that's what you do. I had an interview with Cindy Alexander out of Big Sur, California, and I asked her specifically on the show, Cindy, define success to you. And her answer was pretty basic, but it was very impactful. Success is not about money. It's about are you happy doing what you do? I mean, money is a byproduct. Don't get me wrong, but you don't have to make millions to be successful, right? You can make a nice chunk of change. But it's Who are you touching? And you know, how are you moving people and that type of thing. Sometimes those define your success more so than something monetary,

Jenn Ford  49:09

or absolutely agree with that success is measured by your happiness and and if you're happy, then who cares? And I think that, you know, a lot of people have watched me from the beginning several years ago and followed me, even from when they knew me in the military, and I wasn't pursuing music. They're still following me and still encouraging me my old bosses that I quit jobs for like, man, you're still doing it and I'm like, Yes. Yep, I am. And, and I'm happy doing it and you're still sitting behind that desk and that's okay, too. But you know that that's yes. Okay, too. I would rather I would rather my kids to be well rounded. I would rather than know the value of being honest and the value of seeing small successes and seeing I want them to see me pursue what I love without abandonment, you know, reckless, I guess, like chasing it. And I think they probably get a little, you know, they roll their eyes a little bit sometimes, like, Mom's got another show, and they don't go with me and they don't jump up and down. But they still encourage me just like I go out and watch the football game. Absolutely. Because we support each other, I want them to be successful. If my youngest son wants to, he wants to play in college, very smart kids, straight A's, all of that. And I just tell him, You don't have to play football. But if you do, I'm going to be there cheering for you the whole time. If you want to do something else, you want to learn how to be basket weaver if you want to, you know, be I don't care what you do, I'm going to be tuned for you as long as you're in the honest, sincere life. And you're and you're being realistic with yourself and you're living a healthy life. Whatever it looks like,

Randy Hulsey  51:01

and that's the way a mama should think. Absolutely. I agree with you. Let's change gears a little bit. I want to chat about the band, because nothing's possible without a supporting cast. Right? Where did the name the wide eyed devils come from?

Jenn Ford  51:16

So I have a song called Juana devil, okay. And I kind of gave it to the band after much contemplation, because I felt like I Yes, I'm a performer. And yes, I write all my music. But because I don't play an instrument. I felt like that it's not fair to disregard or not acknowledge the guys that are behind the scenes that are following my, you know, guidance instructions and styles and all that stuff. And they work hard to and I felt like that. I'm about teamwork. And I want everyone to feel valued. And so I just thought it would be good to give them a name, even though I'm used to still release Energen Ford. It also delineates when I have like, performance, that's not what the format when I have an acoustic show, it's just Gen four. But when it's Gen four and the one on devils, that's the live show, that's the big show. That's with all the guys that are that came on board with me. And three years ago, almost four years ago, when I said, Hey, I want to do this. And I have very good musicians, very, very good, talented musicians on board with me right now. So

Randy Hulsey  52:32

tell the listeners who the members of the White devils are and what they play, what what role they play in the band, if you don't mind sharing that.

Jenn Ford  52:41

Christine is my lead guitar player. He's been with me since the very beginning. And he's been one of our best friends for five years. So four years is when you start playing with us and play with another band. Then we have Warren Worsham who's my bass player and he also does background vocals. He's been with us a little over three years. Currently we have Billy Ross snake playing drums for us. He's he's kind of new but he played for Cody Wayne for several years and was up for drummer of the year in 2017. super talented guy. We've been friends for a long time. And we made some changes in our personnel and he had been eager to play for us for a while so he's good. And then we got Danny Davis on keyboard Okay. Also have auxilary players like other guitar players come in. Jared steel is he does acoustic for me sometimes. We create songs together. We travel together a lot when I do acoustic shows Kirk Harper from Tyler comes in and plays he can play any instrument and he writes songs and we perform a lot together. And then Chris Rascoe comes in place for me every now and then he's Sarah Hobbs, guitar player, narrative conference guitar player, Kenneth waters guitar player, okay, so he's like a hired gun, but he's, we're pretty good friends. And if I'm getting a bond and he's free, he'll come be awesome. So we have one on that was and then we have extended family.

Randy Hulsey  54:09

Right? Help us out? Well, we'll certainly holler at your boy here. If you ever need a good recorder player like I play a mean recorder. So just so you currently have an EP out and titled Gen four. If my memory serves me correctly. I think that was maybe released around the beginning of code like 2019 is are my is my timeframe. Correct there? Yeah. Okay.

Jenn Ford  54:38

It was rereleased because I was signed to a different label. It came out in 2018. But when we change the labels and we just re released it, okay. And was again, a better reviews a little bit more. I don't know it was just a bigger deal. It looks better online.

Randy Hulsey  54:56

Yes. And that was kind of your freshman effort from an EP You perspective, correct? Yes, yes. Where was that record recorded?

Jenn Ford  55:04

That was recorded in Gladewater, Texas with Chad Malden at KSR J studios. He does a lot of different artists in East Texas and in are pretty good friends. He's the one that kind of helped me develop my sound for the first because I didn't have a band yet.

Randy Hulsey  55:22

And I wanted to treat the listeners to a clip off of that EP, it's a song called baby get your boots on and let's take a listen to that. And then we'll come back and chat Fair enough. Sounds good all right.

55:39

Because they all know where to go to not be at the back maybe get to boot zones on the Get on down and the dance, Gasol. Let's get some maybe get your boots on town and get to scoot on down at the dance party on Friday

Randy Hulsey  56:16

what inspired the song

Jenn Ford  56:20

that song? I would say?

Randy Hulsey  56:24

Well, you must have been feeling rowdy because you were wanting to get some fireball on that song. So that only means one thing to me, right?

Jenn Ford  56:32

Well, you know what I was given an opportunity to rap this album and I did not expect to be a country artists have been a blues and rock artists. And I was like, Well, how country can I get? And what would I write about? And my husband and I were kind of sitting in the car together. And I wear boots all the time. So I don't know. I just started thinking like, what do you do when you when you go to a country bar, you're gonna put on your boots, you're gonna call your your babe and be like, hey, come pick me up. I'm ready to go out, right? We're gonna go have a good time. We're gonna go to seventh wedding, which I've done all of those things. I just that was that was my big attempt to write like, a hard hitting country song. Yes, that was about having a good time, which is what most of my songs are about is having a good time.

Randy Hulsey  57:23

Absolutely. Now, do you prefer to write alone? Or do you prefer to collaborate with with other people like, talk to me a little bit about that. So far I've

Jenn Ford  57:33

written on my own guys helped me out with music, but I usually come in with melody and chord structure. And like certain rhythms and stuff like that, Chad Malden will help me do pre production, just to kind of figure out the exact structure of the song. So I'll work it out with the guys do a rough recording with them, take it to Chad, he'll make sense of it. And then I'll take it back. And then we prepare for recording from that.

Randy Hulsey  58:00

Would you say that songwriting comes easy for you? Or do you struggle as a songwriter? Or is it kind of a hybrid of both where you go through periods of time where your brain is just clicking on all cylinders, and it's just like, Wow, it's so easy to write a song these days. And then you go through the the lyrical air headedness, of not being able to come up with anything, I

Jenn Ford  58:28

think you kind of have to get in the mind frame to be open to zeroing in on a subject to write about. And if you've got a whole lot going on, which I've had a lot going on in the last year and a half, since we recorded. I was focusing on bookings, and production and releases and all that stuff. And just now I think I'm starting to feel that itch when I'm ready to sit down, but I'll get ideas and I'll record them immediately, no matter what if it's trash or not, I'll record it, or I'll write down the lyrics immediately. And I'll revisit that if, you know whenever I have the time to actually sit down and let something blossom but so it's I guess it's a mixture. But once the juices get flowing, then a whole lot comes right. And it could happen within two or three days. Yeah, it's just Song Song Song. And I'm trying to be more systematic about it. And actually, I'm trying to plan a songwriter retreat with some other guys that are bits and musicians in Texas. And we've we've already kind of played together a couple times and like you need to go out into the woods and just

Randy Hulsey  59:39

do nothing but yeah, yeah, get

Jenn Ford  59:41

away from him and write and compare notes and talk about writing structure. And yes, just figure out a path because right now, it was like grabbing for straws. Like what do I want to write about next? Yeah.

Randy Hulsey  59:56

Yeah, that will that makes perfect sense. Now you also had it think it was a single that was released sometime this year called Hot Mess Express. Correct? Yes. Now this is not an autobiographical song is it?

Jenn Ford  1:00:15

Important this song is is kind of a nod to my baby sister, she's 10 years younger than me and right when I was starting to write the song, she was a nurse with a toddler. I think he was an infant at the time. And she would call me and be like, Oh my gosh, what do I do? I know and I'm like, Oh my gosh, I remember what it's like to have little ones and just need a break and need to go out with your, you know, best girlfriends. Absolutely. You know, get into a little bit of trouble. Absolutely. Let loose. And so that's what that song is about.

Randy Hulsey  1:00:52

Well, I want to take a quick listen to the clip. Share that with the listeners and then we'll come back and chat about that one as well.

1:01:01

Yoga pants but I'm taking girlfriend we were gonna dance the cowboy and drink lots we need to get rid of those spreads

Randy Hulsey  1:01:45

that was the single hot mess express that was released this year. Now with that particular song for you, Jen, was that a quick ride? Or was that one that you had to sit and ponder on for a while?

Jenn Ford  1:01:56

That was pretty quick. I'm real good. I like to tell stories about shenanigans.

Randy Hulsey  1:02:02

There you go. Well, I guess be an ex military. You've you've probably been around some shenanigans in your days, I would have to imagine an uneducated guess.

Jenn Ford  1:02:12

But yes, even though it's for my sister. Mainly, I have lots of different friends, girlfriends that that I serve with and that we're real good sports. And we used to go out together and get monster together. I call all the MSA. I wrote the song about us. I wrote about every

Randy Hulsey  1:02:32

everybody that's done what you did, right? Yeah. You wrote the anthem for everybody. There you go. So if you, you said that you probably worked best alone, or that's how you've kind of worked in the past lyrically. If you could collaborate with one person. Who do you think it would be?

Jenn Ford  1:02:52

You know what, I've never met Courtney Patton, but I follow her. And I think she's an excellent song ladder. I think that Courtney Patton, Bonnie Bishop, Meredith Crawford, these are all people that I don't know if you know all of these folks, but they're all Texas artists. Those women I admire immensely in the Texas music scene because they're doing it and they are consistently performing and putting out good music and they have good online presence and business structure and a lot of success. So kind of want to pick their brain, but I think probably would be interested with Jason Isbell, and maybe even

1:03:34

Zach Wilkerson. Okay.

Jenn Ford  1:03:38

These are even Kevin Galloway. Kevin Galloway is amazing songwriter. And I've talked to Kevin before, but we've never, I mean, we've sat down had a conversation that we've never written together, but I really love his song, keep the wolves away, keeping the wolves away.

Randy Hulsey  1:03:53

What was the name of? Yes, yes, yes. That's a great song.

Jenn Ford  1:04:00

I think once I saw them playing one time, and this is about six years ago, I was like that, right? There is a finished product. There, their whole band was super polished. The show was polished. I watched some, probably eight times in that last year, just in admiration of how consistent they were. And how they always said see, with is certainly put you in in the right mood to listen. And there was nothing real big or showy, but it just evokes emotion immediately. And I think Kevin will probably be one guy that I would love to sit down with sometime but at the same time, I take a lot of pride in my ability to put words together and tell a story and I think that's pretty good lyrics and I'm sort of selfish about that. Like, I don't want to help you know, I'll see what's your stuff. I see background vocals on a lot of sessions and admire those those people songs but I feel like that if I write with somebody else it's not really my story

Randy Hulsey  1:05:11

yes well that song that you mentioned keeping the wolves away is a is a powerful song because it's true story right and I think those he is or some of those guys are from South Texas if I'm not mistaken I don't know really too much the bet the background on them but love the song have have definitely heard it. And the other one that you mentioned, who was probably one of my I guess from you know, if you want to get into genres, the Americana genre Jason, his bowl is probably one of the best. As far as I'm personally that I'm concerned. I love everything that Jason has built in the 400 unit do they're probably the goat the de facto standard for me when it comes to the Americana genre. Got to isn't me. Yes, yes.

Jenn Ford  1:06:02

So working man blue collar. And even though I'm a woman, I feel like I live that blue collar life. And as a soldier and my parents, my dad was a blue collar man. So there's a lot of those stories that he's telling that I can actually visualize what it's like to live in, chasing, chasing work to just feed your family amaze. Hard work, physical work. Yeah, my dad has been handicapped since I was 13. And so that song with Kevin Galloway really rings true, though with that. I experienced what it's like to watch somebody deteriorate. And that put himself before everybody else. That's still alive. But he is not the same. Yeah, as he was before he got injured. Love that song

Randy Hulsey  1:06:55

was his thing. And I don't want to go again down a rabbit hole. Was his military related or was his work related?

Jenn Ford  1:07:03

He did. He did get in a shipwreck in the late 70s. But that's not what he where he got injured. He got injured when I was about 12 or 13 years old, working at home moms. But he worked for Philips and in the refineries and all that stuff in the Gulf when I was a little girl. And so there were some times where we would get phone calls, and there had been an accident or whatever that he wasn't in. But I feel like that all of that stuff was kind of coinciding with our timeline

Randy Hulsey  1:07:40

as well. Yep, yep. Now, are there any plans from your camp for a new single or maybe even an LP or EP coming up with like, what's music? Okay, cool.

Jenn Ford  1:07:54

So I record with blue Louis, who's a Texas blues artists, those songs are going to come out in the next couple of weeks. I'm just doing background vocals on that. But I do, I do perform with him often. But I have a song, two songs that are already ready to go, then I'm kind of waiting to see what my plan is for 2022 If I want to include them on a whole new compilation, or if I'm just going to release them as singles. And one of them is a cover song. And one of them is a song about my experience with PTSD. So both of them are very powerful and they do not sound like anything else we've released.

Randy Hulsey  1:08:35

That's awesome. That's exciting news. Where would you tell the listeners to find you on social media?

Jenn Ford  1:08:46

I think everything is Gen Ford, for Facebook, and Instagram is I think it's it Gen Ford music.

Randy Hulsey  1:08:54

And that's je n n for the listeners with two ends.

Jenn Ford  1:08:59

And then I have a tick tock that I'm not very good at but it's Jen for Texas. And I think my Instagram is Jen Ford music as well. But I don't do a whole I mean not Instagram much my Twitter. I don't really do a lot of Twitter. Yeah. Mostly everything if you put je nn for your family. Okay. Easy to find on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Google Amazon. Everywhere you can stream music for Fall Jen Ford.

Randy Hulsey  1:09:31

And I know that websites are kind of archaic, but I will I will plug you on having a website called Gen four.com. If you guys want to meander out to Gen four.com You can find tour information there. There's also a merch section of the website so you know make sure you go out there and and purchase up a bunch of Jen Ford stuff. Jen, I wanted to thank you so much for joining me on the show. Today it's been a pleasure to finally catch up with you and and hear your story. So, thank you for that. I know you've got a lot of things going on. So you're, I certainly respect your time, I asked the listeners to like, share and subscribe to the podcast. Also, don't forget to follow Jen on all of her social media platforms. Also make sure to check out Gen schedule at Gen four.com and Facebook and Instagram as well. Also be on the lookout for upcoming shows and your neck of the woods. I also want to remind everybody that you can find the show on Facebook at backstage pass radio podcast on Instagram at backstage pass radio, Twitter at backstage pass PC and on the website at backstage pass. radio.com You guys stay safe and healthy. And we'll see you right back here on the next episode of backstage pass radio.

Adam Gordon  1:10:51

Thanks so much for joining us. We hope you enjoyed today's episode of backstage pass radio. Make sure to follow Randy on Facebook and Instagram at Randy Halsey music and on Twitter at our Halsey music. Also, make sure to like, subscribe and turn on alerts for upcoming podcasts. If you enjoyed the podcast, make sure to share the link with a friend and tell them backstage pass radio is the best show on the web for everything music. We'll see you next time right here on backstage pass radio