Ryan Bingham. Ford confirmed in a November 2006 interview with Hittin' the Note magazine that he is contractually prohibited from discussing his time in the Black Crowes during the period of 2005–2006. In a later interview with the magazine, Ford revealed that this contractual limitation was "in perpetuity." Solo again Shortly after his sudden departure from the Black Crowes, Ford reunited with his Burning Tree bandmates for three gigs at the King King in Hollywood, California. Following the impromptu dates, Ford enlisted Doni Gray as his bandmate, along with Muddy and his son Elijah Ford, for a new studio album he had begun preproduction on. Touted by the guitarist as a more guitar-based recording, Weary and Wired was released on March 13, 2007, on Shrapnel Records' subdivision Blues Bureau. Coinciding with the release of Weary and Wired was Ford's feature interview on the cover of jam-band oriented music magazine Hittin' the Note (Issue #52). Throughout 2007 Ford hit the road in support of his new album, with bandmates Mark "Muddy" Dutton, Elijah Ford and new drummer Dennis Morehouse. The tour found the band performing across the United States, as well as select dates in Spain, Germany, Russia and at a handful of European festivals. During later dates on the tour, Ford unveiled as many as six new songs, hinting at another album on the way. The tour continued through the end of 2007, when Ford took a short break. Early in 2008, Ford played sporadic shows on the West Coast, some with his Fuzz Machine band and some with a new venture, Jefferson Steelflex. Ford and his son Elijah joined Ryan Bingham for several dates on his tour, performing songs from the Ford-produced album Mescalito. Ford played slide guitar on Bingham's appearances on The Tonight Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the summer of 2008. Ford produced Steepwater Band's next studio effort, an LP tentatively titled Grace & Melody released in November 2008, at Compound Studios in Signal Hill, California (recording began in the first week of May 2008). Ford first met the Chicago-based power trio when their bands shared a festival bill in Bilbao, Spain (in the summer of 2007). Ford joined the band on stage to jam on a pair of songs including a cover of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer", following a sit-in by his bandmate/son Elijah. Steepwater Band subsequently provided support for Ford's headlining