Marc Ford (born April 13, 1966) is an American blues-rock guitarist. He is a former lead guitarist of the rock and roll band The Black Crowes, the former lead guitarist of The Magpie Salute and the leader of his own bands: Burning Tree, Marc Ford & The Neptune Blues Club, Jefferson Steelflex, Fuzz Machine and Marc Ford & The Sinners. History Early life Ford was born in Long Beach, California, United States. Burning Tree Ford started out playing the Southern California/Los Angeles underground rock scene in the early/mid-eighties in bands such as Citadel, which later went by the names Citadel Ltd & Head. He also played guitar on the self-titled 1984 EP by Jack Grisham's post-T.S.O.L. band Cathedral of Tears, on which he is credited as "Mark Ford". He played in the L.A. side-project band Stronzo which featured Mickey Finn of Jetboy, Sami Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks/Jetboy, and various other musicians playing shows outside of their main bands, and in 1988 Ford played guitar for Michael Monroe at the Scream club, also with Sami Yaffa on bass, which was the first ever L.A. show for the former Hanoi Rocks singer. Ford also played with early Dogs D’Amour/L.A. Guns man Robert Stoddard, and around this time was in Orange County band The Scarecrows. In the late eighties, Citadel Ltd/Head evolved into the blues-rock outfit Burning Tree, a power trio featuring Ford on guitars and vocals, Mark Dutton on bass and vocals, and Doni Gray on drums and vocals. Burning Tree released their self-titled debut album on Epic Records in 1990. A commercial failure but a critical success, Burning Tree allowed the group to tour extensively throughout most of 1990 and 1991. The band's career was cut short when Ford left to join the Black Crowes, for whom Burning Tree had opened on their first (and only) tour. The Black Crowes In mid-1991, Marc Ford sat in a couple of times with the Black Crowes in concert, performing The Allman Brothers Band's classic hit, "Dreams". When the Black Crowes severed their relationship with their original guitarist Jeff Cease, Ford was asked to fill the vacancy. He accepted the offer, and a few days later was asked by Slash to join Guns N' Roses. Ford refused. At the time, Guns N' Roses were in the middle of a huge stadium world tour. Ford said in 2017 that he would probably be dead now,