For almost 45 years Roy Forbes has been a mainstay at festivals, and folk club produced concerts across this land. The B.C. native burst onto the scene during a renaissance period for Canadian roots music and in quick succession the singer-songwriter released a series of recordings under the name Bim. Those recordings earned him loyal audiences thanks to deep well of songs that included “Right After My Heart”, “Fly Back North”, “Tender Lullaby”, “Farmer Needs to the Rain”, “Waitin’ for You Mama”, and “Shell of a Life”.
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That impressive foundation was added to with another string of recordings that saw him shed Bim for Roy. A series of releases as Roy Forbes found the songbook expanding via albums like Crazy Old Moon and The Human Kind and bi-product of that great songbook has been numerous artists, ranging from the great western orchestra to American bluegrass star Kathy Kallick, serving up wonderful interpretations of Roy Forbes songs.
In the new millennium Forbes has released a collection of his interpretations of classic folk-roots songs, under the banner of “Some Tunes for that Mother of Mine” (2006) and an energized live solo set titled Strikin’ Matches Live! (2014).
Roy also continues to host the popular Roy’s record room on the CKUA radio network on Monday evenings and his vast knowledge of classic roots styles, including western swing, rockabilly and rhythm and blues, will be tapped into during workshop sessions at ROOTS&BLUES 2016.
“It has never been anything less than a major pleasure to listen to new songs by Forbes, a craft-conscious writer who remains one of the truest troubadours in the Canadian mosaic.”
the Toronto Star