He is also notable for being the bassist/composer of the experimental rock trio Dreadnaught, music director for the NHPR/Music Hall series Writers on a New England Stage, and in-studio producer of Grammy-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.
Dreadnaught's The American Standard (2001) was one of the best-reviewed progressive rock releases of its year,[2] and the decade-long retrospective High Heat & Chin Music (2007) received a "Best Of NH 2007" award from New Hampshire Magazine.
[4] In 2002, while beginning preparations for what would become Dreadnaught's double-disc Live At Mojo (Comet Records), Lord began composing and producing music for film and other media; his work includes music for "Flying Downhill", a documentary on Olympic skier Bode Miller, "Marilyn's Man", a Marilyn Monroe documentary released by Universal, "Wander", an award-winning short film which aired on IFC,[5] and the theme song for "The Exchange" from New Hampshire Public Radio.
With Dreadnaught, Lord has shared a stage with John Entwistle (The Who), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson), NRBQ, Jim Weider (The Band), California Guitar Trio, and the Young Dubliners.
In 2005, the group began a prominent stint as house band for the New Hampshire Public Radio series Writers on a New England Stage at the Music Hall in Portsmouth, where it has performed with Stephen King, Dan Brown, Ken Burns, Alan Alda, John Updike, Elmore Leonard, Madeleine Albright, and Mitch Albom, among others.