Kristen Ford at The Crystal Saloon – Juneau, AK

On her newest album, Pinto, the queer, biracial, L.A. songwriter Kristen Ford blasts way

beyond the point of caution and unveils a wild landscape of visceral emotion.

Ford’s world is one of the deepest feelings: whether fuming at queer repression, falling head over heels in love, or learning to finally and wholeheartedly practice true self-acceptance. Pinto is a place where she can be candid enough to openly share her losses while being mindful enough to acknowledge her wins. In revealing both her scars and her successes, Ford raises a spirited cry that invites the listener to boldly embrace themselves, to take up space, and to loudly state that “enough is enough”.

The lessons that Ford explores on Pinto are those learned the hard way: from helplessly watching the state-sanctioned suppression of queer rights in the US, through finding new love after a gut-wrenching divorce, and from the daily microaggressions that come with being sold a patriarchal expectation of ‘womanliness’.

With a series of acclaimed releases under her belt, no one could accuse this veteran songwriter of lacking poetic nuance. Still, it is hard to ignore the raw and undiluted messages that are contained within Pinto. Undoubtedly, this is Ford’s most political, most pointed, and most energizing outing yet.

The heart of Pinto is that YOU still matter. Working people, women, queer people, immigrants, creators in their 30s and beyond, still matter. We didn’t time out on that. It is an album that embodies Ford’s belief that “the rulebook has been thrown out by the current administration, but we can turn this disorder back on them and boldly create the world we want.” Or, as she puts it in her less guarded moments, “it’s time to be louder, be bigger, be brasher motherf*cker!”

It was at a Ford show in 2022 that she first caught the ear of legendary songwriter Ani DiFranco. Over the preceding months, the two struck up a working relationship that has since seen them tour together and co-write four of the twelve songs that will appear on Pinto. Their connection continues with the release of Pinto, which arrives on August 22nd via DiFranco’s

Righteous Babe Records.