Keith Douglas Forrester

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Keith Douglas Forrester is the son of an almost famous southern rock musician father and a Pentecostal mother who dreamed prophesies and spoke in tongues . Outside of his father's perpetual picking on guitars and tapping keys on the piano his formative years of exposure to a diverse range of music started with his father's massive collection of records and an old tweed speaker record cabinet inherited from his grandparents. By age eight he was picking up a guitar daily and learning through what he could glean from his Dad and self teaching as the years progressed with Mel Bay instructional books and friend's who played too. At age 16, while working part time repairing guitars in the back of the iconic and sadly now defunct Atlanta area vintage music store Midtown Music he was introduced to a gentleman by the name of Murray, an English professor who finger picked in the vein of old Country Blues and American Primitive styles. Upon hearing this style as Murray tested and played the guitar he had just repaired; a new passion was discovered. An amalgamation of finger style techniques became his primary means of playing and has influenced his style ever since, whether through instrumental finger style albums released as Keith Forrester, or in his previous long time Atlanta goth folk rock band Little Horn. His vocal style has been likened to that of Matt Berninger (The National), Bill Callahan (Smog), and sometimes even Johnny Cash, yet often breaks those molds with falsettos or mid to high range soars. His instrumental work is deeply rooted in the American Primitive style and a love of it's many proponents starting with the "founder" John Fahey and his Takoma Records label, Leo Kottke, and on to many others that have kept the tradition alive that he admires such as Glenn Jones and the late Jack Rose.  After a long stretch of very difficult life circumstances for years leading up to and through the pandemic the music suffered during a time when the expression and outlet were really needed most. These new offerings are not only a way of working through those hard times but also in hopes of striking some solidarity with all those who have been struggling and suffering through these dark times too. Describing his approach to writing he say's "it's basically an attempt to give the emotions and processes of the psyche a sound".