STEVE FORBERT

As a young man from Meridian, Mississippi, Steve Forbert traveled to New York City and played guitar for spare change in Grand Central Station. He vaulted to international prominence with a folk-rock hit, “Romeo’s Tune,” during a time when rootsy rock was fading out and the Ramones, Talking Heads and other New Wave and punk acts were moving in to the public consciousness. Still, critics raved about Steve’s poetic lyrics and engaging melodies, and the crowds at CBGB’s club in New York accepted him alongside those acts. “I’ve never been interested in changing what I do to fit emerging trends,” Forbert observes. “Looking back on it, I was helping to keep a particular American songwriting tradition alive at a time when it wasn’t in the spotlight.”

Rolling Stone contributing editor, David Wild, recently 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.”

Producer, John Simon, renowned for his collaborations with The Band and Leonard Cohen, shepherded Forbert’s second release, Jackrabbit Slim, to success. Forbert credits Simon with helping him nail “Romeo’s Tune” for the Nashville-recorded album, and the song became the artist’s only Top 20 U.S. hit. (It peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.)

After his first two records came a plethora of well-crafted, unforgettable songs on such albums as Little Stevie Orbit, Streets of This Town, The American in Me, Mission of the Crossroad Palms and Evergreen Boy. His tribute to Jimmie Rodgers, Any Old Time, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004. In October 2012, 35 years after his first album, Steve has released an exciting new one, Over With You. Its ten fresh but mature songs pinpoint a wide range of emotions that color personal relationships — emotions that most listeners have undoubtedly felt and struggled to understand at some point in their lives. “This is an album that has taken a lifetime to make,” explains Forbert. “You don’t just pull these songs out of thin air — you have to live them.”

Though further chart success has eluded Steve Forbert, he’s continued to write particularly insightful songs and has grown an impressive legacy. He’s received a Grammy nomination, seen his songs performed by Keith Urban, Rosanne Cash and Marty Stuart, and even appeared opposite Cyndi Lauper in her music video for “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Forbert continues to tour, both solo and with his band.