Steve Forbert and Pat Foran will headline at Havana New Hope on Jan. 23 as part of the Winterfest Weekend 2015 festivities.
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 into the public consciousness. Still, critics raved about Steve’s poetic lyrics and engaging melodies, and the crowds at CBGB’s 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.”
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.”
Pat Foran from Lambertville grew up performing in a variety of musical genres including rock, country, jazz and classical in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and New England. Beginning with his first Rock Band experience at age 15, his broad musical experience has fused into a singer/songwriter style embodying various forms of popular music. Pat’s 2013 independent album release Foran Policy features a bedding of acoustic guitar on half the album, while the rest is steeped in the electric side of rock.
Forbert and Foran will appear at Havana on Friday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m.; Will Call at 6 p.m. Tickets for Limited Reserved Tables, Bar and Loft Doors are $35 in advance.
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