GUITAR, UKELELE: Classical, Acoustic, Pop/Rock, Flamenco (Beginner to Advanced)
PIANO: Classical & Jazz (Beginner to Advanced Intermediate)
THEORY/COMPUTER MUSIC/SONGWRITING: All genres, all levels.
[Email Me] Ford is a rising star in the DC guitar and songwriting circuit, particularly in-demand as a Spanish/Flamenco guitar soloist in jazz trios and eight-piece horn rock bands, playing his own original compositions as well as standard repertoire. He has a background in all types of guitar styles and genres as well as a unique array of composition techniques.
Ford is a graduate of University of North Caroline-Chapel Hill with a BA in Guitar Performance, where he studied with classical guitarist and composer, Billy Stewart. He then attended post-graduate studies at the Conservatori de Musica del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain, where he studied Flamenco Guitar with Manuel Granados, Classical Composition with Dr. Ben Davies, and Film Scoring with Jose Nieto. In 2013, Mr. Combs' classical composition for a saxophone quartet was premiered at the Conservatori de Musica del Liceu.
After returning to the US, he worked as a soloist and in-house arranger for many local bands. In addition to his performing, Mr. Combs taught at the School of Rock in Norfolk, Virginia teaching piano, guitar, group lessons, summer camps, and more. Here in DC he also is a piano teacher at the Sheridan School. Recently arriving onto the DC music scene, Mr. Combs is enjoying performing for a larger Flamenco audience and working with Miguelito, who runs the DC flamenco blog, dcflamenco.com, and joining him at the University of Maryland-College Park to accompany flamenco dance classes. He has also been heard in the lounge trio Three Cat Lounge and the horn band J and the Band. In addition to his work as a professional solo guitarist, Mr. Combs is a computer music composer. He enjoys creating digital instruments such as a computer keyboard organ as well as a two handed motion sensor musical device. In addition to programming, Mr. Combs has experience in audio editing using ProTools, Reason, and Audacity.