Grammy Award nominee Steve Forbert is coming home to help launch a new live music series in his home state of Mississippi.
The Meridian native will play the Grand Magnolia Ballroom in Pascagoula on Tuesday, May 3 as part of the “Native Mississippians Singer/Songwriter Sessions.” The show will begin at 7 p.m., and tickets are on sale at www.grandmagmusic.com or in person at Scranton’s Restaurant.
Pascagoula’s Libby Rae Watson will open the show. Watson and her band, The Hoodoo Men, will then appear at The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival two days later.
Forbert left Mississippi in his early 20s and headed to New York City, the first step in what would become a critically acclaimed career spanning more than four decades. He was at the forefront of the roots/rock movement in the United States, helping develop the “Americana” music genre even before the term was created.
His biggest hit, “Romeo’s Tune,” came soon after he arrived in the Big Apple. The song shot up to No. 11 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, and resulted in Forbert touring the USA and Europe many times over.
“I’ve been traveling around to play music since before I even had a drivers license, and You know what? I love it,” Forbert said. “I tour a lot with just me. It’s always a friendly crowd because I don’t get people who want to hear whatever is hot this month. These people have been with me, aging with me, for over 40 years. We have stuff in common.”
Along the way, 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.”
His 2002 album, Any Old Time, a collection of fellow Mississippian Jimmie Rodgers songs, was nominated for a Grammy award for best traditional folk album.
Excelling in every decade of his career, Forbert exemplifies the best of the troubadour tradition.
“Romeo’s Tune was the song that gave me a career in music” Forbert concluded. “If you can conjure up six or seven hit records, wonderful. But you’ve got to have one. It gets you a ticket in to the show. There’s always been a commercial element to the business.”
The Forbert show kicks off the new “Native Mississippians Singer/Songwriter Sessions” at The Grand Magnolia. Other shows in the series will include a pair of Mac McAnally concerts on Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14 as well as a Paul Overstreet show on Friday, July 8.
There are still two other shows to be announced in the six show series. Tickets for all of the announced shows are available at www.grandmagmusic.com.
