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Steve Forbert with Old Oaks (Solo)
October 30, 2021 @ 8:00 pm
$27
Doors 7:00PM / Show 8:00PM
Steve Forbert’s folk-rock career has spanned four decades and counting. In June 1976, the twenty-one year old boarded a train in Meridian, Mississippi bound for New York City, then the epicenter of folk music. His combination of musicianship and authenticity demanded notice. In less than two years, he went from being a street performer and living at the YMCA to filling historic Greenwich Village clubs and signing a major label record contract with Nemperor Records.
From 1978 to 1982, Forbert released four acclaimed albums. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild wrote that “now or then, you would be hard-pressed to find a debut effort that was
simultaneously as fresh and accomplished as Alive on Arrival… it was like a great first novel by a young author who somehow managed to split the difference between Mark Twain and J.D. Salinger.”
simultaneously as fresh and accomplished as Alive on Arrival… it was like a great first novel by a young author who somehow managed to split the difference between Mark Twain and J.D. Salinger.”
Forbert’s second studio release, Jackrabbit Slim went RIAA Gold Certified with its Billboard #11 hit “Romeo’s Tune” Recording success vaulted Steve onto a broader musical stage, touring the U.S. and Europe many times over. Forbert even appeared opposite Cyndi Lauper in her music video for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. His early accomplishments would be a career for most artists, but he continues to write, record, and perform to this day. His artistic pursuit has resulted in twenty studio albums and numerous live releases, compilations, and accolades. His songs have been recorded by Keith Urban, Rosanne Cash and Marty Stuart.
Any Old Time, a retrospective of the music of Meridian’s Jimmie Rodgers, received a 2003 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Album. As Rodger’s music has inspired Forbert, so has Forbert’s music influenced a new generation of artists.
In 2017, twenty-one artists paid tribute to Steve by recording a compilation titled: An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert, further validating his artistic legacy. Forbert’s 2018 memoir Big City Cat: My Life in Folk-Rock serves as a primer for young musicians setting out on their own journeys.
