My Life in Folk-Rock is singer/songwriter Steve Forbert’s exceptional new memoir, co-written with Therese Boyd in which he most candidly reflects on those specific circumstances that first brought him to the public eye. Originally conceived as a stage play and screen treatment, it finds him documenting the early adventures of a small town Mississippi boy in the Big City, pursuing his quest to make music. Sharing reflections and journals he kept at the time, he weaves an absorbing narrative that fully addresses the trials, travails and triumphs that would eventually play out over the course of his prolific 40+ year career including encounters with the Ramones, Sam Phillips, Keith Richards, Doc Pomus, Levon Helm and others notables along the way.
The book is accompanied by its own soundtrack as well, an evocative new album entitled The Magic Tree that offers a series of songs gleaned from previously recorded acoustic demos, augmented with new backing tracks and fleshed out as a series of songs that ring with the verve and vitality that Forbert’s fans have always come to expect. Consistently upbeat and optimistic, they convey a firm sense that age ought not diminish a lust for living. Then again, that’s been Forbert’s mantra ever since the beginning: honoring his past while plowing his way towards the future in a mindful, soulful and revelatory way. Hear Steve Forbert talk about the book and play some tracks from the soundtrack, The Magic Tree in the player at the bottom of the post. Steve Forbert plays The Cactus Cafe on Saturday, November 3.
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Host: Jody Denberg
Producer: Deidre Gott
Broadcast Engineer: Cliff Hargrove