Colton Ford is a rarity. In and out of the adult film circuit in a brief ten months, one can own his complete filmography and store it on just a few inches of shelf space. Though he is quick to point out the brevity of his career in porn, he is entirely comfortable in letting it serve as a beacon, drawing new fans to his enduring work in music. Coming to Edmonton’s Evolution Lounge in October, Ford will be showing off the talent – and likely the physique – that has kept him in the entertainment game for the last 30 years. We had a chance to talk with the actor/musician recently about his work, some surprising additions to his fan base, and his impressive endurance.

GC: Many people tend to focus on your work in adult film, but that was a fairly fixed point in time. Where did your start in music begin? Did you have any formal training?

CF: I was singing since I was a child – it was just something that came natural to me. Once I started going to school I was toggling between swimming and acting, and gymnastics and diving. I studied with a vocal coach for quite some time. When I got out of high school I started college, but my heart was in singing and performing. I got a gig at a dinner theatre and, out of that, I started doing commercial jingles. I was in a jazz quartet, and I got my first record deal in 1988. It has been in me since I came into this world. I acted as well and did a lot of theatre. It’s all kind of an extension of the creative expression that I choose.

GC: Could you tell us about your song-writing process?

CF: I’m really organic with it. For the most part, I’ll get a track, which is basically just instrumental, and I’ll start coming up with the melody and, as I’m developing the melody, lyrics start popping through. There have also been songs where I have had the lyrics pre-written, and I got the track and started writing the melody around the lyrics, so obviously it takes on a different melodic rhythm. It’s kind of like putting together a puzzle. I love that process of making it all fit, and work, and make sense.

GC: Your stint in porn was pretty brief – as they go – but it seems to be a pretty prominent part of your career. Do you feel it has acted as a barrier to people understanding what you are about, or is it a gateway that brings people to you?

CF: I think one could argue both. It was a specific time in my life, and kind of an extension of the adventure that I was having at that point in my life. I really looked at it as that: as adventure. There is still a lot of energy around pornography, and nudity and sex, and all that good stuff, so I think it naturally solicits a reaction – good, bad, or somewhere in the middle. It’s cliché but it’s true – it never leaves you. I went into it – I was 39 when I did it – with my eyes both open, understanding the dynamics. I certainly feel like it has afforded me an audience that I might not have had, had I not done it. And certainly there are a gazillion 30, 40, 50-year-old singers that are talented and wonderful that we will never hear from so I think, in certain ways, it has kind of thrust me out at the forefront.

GC: Would you say that working in porn caused you any problems?

CF: I know there are some people who haven’t wanted to work with me because of this, but this last album, I had... all these major players didn’t have an issue with it. So I feel that the stigma isn’t as sharp as it was, but it is still there. There are still judgements, and those are driven by all kinds of things. Some people fantasize about it, but never give themselves permission to have the experiences, and maybe resent those that do. I really just want to speak to those people that are open-minded and not constricted by judgement like that.

GC: Your physique is obviously something you take great care of, and don’t mind showing off. How long have you been sculpting your body this way?

CF: I have always been active – I was a gymnast for a good six years, when I was short, until I shot up and I got into springboard diving. In the ’80s I tried aerobics and I ran, and then I got into weight lifting and I became a certified trainer. [Staying fit is] something that I enjoy. My motivation is different now at 52 than it was even five years ago, and it’s something that I didn’t have an issue with using. The irony is that it’s a double-standard. It’s okay for the girls to be naked and objectified and swing naked from a wrecking ball, but god forbid one of us guys does it, especially a gay one.

GC: Obviously when you are training to that level, there is always a danger of it becoming an obsession. How do you stay grounded, and train in a healthy way?

CF: I’m shifting – I have a new EP that is going to be coming out that’s more acoustic soul, which is what my roots are. I kind of feel like that’s going to transition the imagery a little bit too. Obviously I want to [age gracefully]... albeit, stay healthy and as physically fit as possible, so I’m not heading into something that I don’t want to do and my body doesn’t want to do. It is really embracing each stage of life, and not being too caught up in doing what you can, to keep pieces of those processes at bay. I want to enjoy being in my 50s and accept some of the changes that are inevitable.

GC: Your career’s gone through so many phases – do you find that you have to re-build your base of support with each transition, or do your fans tend to stick with you?

CF: My fan base has stayed with me and, as I have progressed, I have added to that base. That was the plan, obviously – to grow from my initial fan base – and that is what happened. I have great and loyal fans, and there has been a thread of my base influence of soul throughout all my work. It’s not like I’m going from country to acid rock – it has all been infused with some R&B and jazz... I have female fans now. I don’t know that I necessarily started with them, although there is a contingent of straight girls that are into gay porn, I found out. I had no clue. Straight women are like, Hey, straight porn is all about the women. The men are incidental! If I wanna go see hot guys fuck, I go and watch gay porn!"