Gigs Music has been a major part of Darren Forbes' life from the time he could open up his mouth and sing. The instrument playing came later followed by the song writing. Darren's music is a simple mix of Celtic Folk, Modern Folk, and Folk Blues sounds. His sound and vocal style are his own but not without the influence of many great musicians along the way both famous and undiscovered.
Darren's songs come from the heart and always express an aspect of personal or shared truth. The lyrics are the soul of the music. The melody simply sets the mood for the words. Darren makes music as a creative journey he can share with others. It is not for fame, respect, or popularity.
Darren and his brother, Todd have been playing music since their youth. Two brother, two best friends, a guitar player and a bass player. A simple acoustic arrangement to express a love for music. The Brothers Forbes.
Well the year is rapidly coming to and end. The Brothers Forbes have been laying low. I did get to play three new songs at the Meadow Lake Arts and Culture Songwriter's Gala Evening early November. It was a fun event and it was nice to meet a few new talented musicians here in Meadow Lake.
I have been busy writing new songs and preparing recordings for a variety of song contests. You never know until you try! There are always thousands of entries for such things but based on past winners I have as good a chance as anyone.
I have also been busy finalizing my workshop for guitar building and repair. I also have been spending time getting my name out there for this type of work. I also got a start on a website for the Guitar Building. You can check it out at Forbes Guitars .
The summer was quiet for The Brothers Forbes but it was busy for Darren and Todd. I went off to Tugaske, SK to learn the art of guitar building from Master Luthier David Freeman. It was an intense experience that has changed my life. I built an OM (Orchestra Model) acoustic with a bear claw sitka spruce top and east indian rosewood back and sides. When I came back it was time to get set up to build more and compose some new music on my hand-made guitar.
Todd was busy as well as he became a new father to Serina Haley Forbes. Serina is Todd and Michelle's seoncd daughter. Kaitlyn was also excited to become a new, proud, big sister.
Check my YOUTUBE channel to see a slide show of the guitar building and hear my lastest recoreded song on the guitar. There is also a live version of the song with the new guitar as well.
June has been a good month for playing. Todd and I played at the Cafe Vivant in Saskatoon to a small but appreciative, responsive crowd. I then got to play "Art in the Park" in Meadow Lake and tried out a bunch of new songs. Todd was busy with the new house so I was flying solo. It was a great set minus the mosquitoes that were trying to drain me of blood.
Cafe Vivant
July is going to exclusive Luthiery. Should be a great experience.
May was a month of preparation for the most part. We played May 16th. It was good but a bit different than what I am used to. We were not permitted to interact with the crowd so we had no introduction, no song explanations...nothing. We prepared easily enough songs to last the entire two sets, however, with no interaction the silence between songs was awkward. So we continued to play. We ran out of songs in the second set and i continued to play a series of additional song to complete. It was a gig marathon and it left me with a pair of numb hands.
It was nice to see many friends there to support us and it was nice to gain some new fans as well.
We play again in Saskatoon on June 5th. I was hoping to have some cd's ready but that is just not going to happen. My life is too much of a shambles right now to organize it. Plus, Derek needs time to learn the first 43 songs in the song book and that has been a real challenge alothough he has been very focused on it and doing really well.
As usual, I have been writing lots (started writing more prose...which has not happened in a long time) and setting the new songs to music. I amnot going to claim that they are good but I think people could appreciate them.
I was thinking about including some of the non-song writings somewhere on the site but am undecide as to whether or not that would be valuable or interesting to anyone. Time will tell.
Be Well
~Darren
March has been a cold month. With only a week left I can only hope spring is here for April.
Todd and I have brought on another guitar player into the mix. A fine young guitarist by the name of Derek Kunkel has agreed to give our music a chance. We are hoping Derek likes what we do and stays on to add another dimension to our sound. He is not a "biological" brother Forbes....but we will call him our brother from another mother...so he doesn't have to feel left out.
We are also wanting to add some percussion to the mix so if there are any drummers hiding in the shadows....let us know. We would love to see if you could be part of our group.
As always, new songs are in the works. Todd and I are hoping to get the CD done by April (fingers crossed).
Todd is a new home owner! Congrats!
"Most of us are rich with the things of society. What society has created in us and what we have created in ourselves, are greed, envy, anger, hate, jealousy, anxiety - and with all these we are very rich.
The various religions throughout the world have preached poverty. The monk assumes a robe, changes his name, shaves his head, enters a cell and takes a vow of poverty and chastity; in the East he has one loin cloth, one robe, one meal a day - and we all respect such poverty. But those men who have assumed the robe of poverty are still inwardly, psychologically, rich with the things of society because they are still seeking position and prestige; they belong to this order or that order, this religion or that religion; they still live in the divisions of a culture, a tradition"
Freedom from the Known (p. 60)
