Playing an eclectic blend of acoustic originals, smooth folk americana covers, and toe-tapping rhythm and blues, Ford Heinz is a one-of-a-kind act in Central New York. Ford plays blues and bluegrass romps, plaintive heartfelt dirges, and the kind of music that you’d listen to while you’re sitting on a lakeside dock alone by candlelight at 3 a.m. searching for the Pleiades in the night sky.

Ford Heinz’s songs have been called relatable and heartfelt, with lyrics that are unexpected looks at everyday life. His music is a love letter to the true spirit of Americana – mournful of the bad times, nostalgic for the good ones, compassionate for fellow travelers, and hopeful for the future.

Heinz names as influences acts like Doc Watson, Leadbelly, Rhiannon Giddens, Layla Mccalla, Sly Stone, The Talking Heads, Joanna Newsom, Jason Isbell, The Beatles, Neil Young, CeCe Winans, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Flatbush Zombies as influences and musical heroes.

Ford is a lifelong Central New Yorker who grew up playing music with his dad and brother in churches on the south side of Syracuse. At the age of 17, his jazz ensemble opened for Aretha Franklin at the Syracuse M&T Jazzfest (technically) and he was awarded a certificate for “Best Electric Bass Solo”. He’s played with gospel acts like Kevin Stephens & Free Spirit, classic rock group Corcoran Live!, and was the lead guitarist for the meteorically popular Syracuse punk band K9-13.

Drawn to the forgotten byways of the United States, he has lived in cities like Meadville Pennsylvania and Logan, Utah. He goes walking in the woods for weeks at a time in places like the Finger Lakes Trail and the Northville-Placid Trail traversing the Adirondack park.

When he's not soothing souls with music, he works for a nonprofit organization in Central New York on ending homelessness. He holds a Master's degree in Quantitative Research Methods from Utah State University.