Tate is a happy man who plays exclusively sad songs. A sparse yet bombastic look at heartbreak with only a sliver of silver lining.
What people don’t say about rolling stones is that though they gather no moss, they also bloom late and have excellent bullshit detectors. Forest Tate is at the peak of his reflective and rhetorical powers, given strength and focus during an uncharacteristically extended perch in the past half-decade. Crafting and debuting a new batch of songs about a complicated relationship with the past and an optimistic ambiguity toward the future, Tate is emerging from the woodshed again to shake off his moss.
The same part of me that gets tickled making things with wood is in play with the music I create. The main difference is, that while I can coax the shape I have in my head with woodworking, I have little control over music. For me, music is almost a complete mystery. I think I might be writing the same song over and over and I love doing it. I attempt to explore meaning and purpose with my writing without hitting the nail on the head. Unlike the woodwork, I’m willing to take swings and leave bent nails in place as long as the song holds.
I don’t often perform but when I do I favour quiet locations in close quarters with the audience. Record stores, barber shops, auto wrecking yards, arts spaces, and living rooms have been great recently.
I take great joy in noticing how my doing music has connected me to some very important people in my life - both performer and audience. I’ve done tours with Shotgun Jimmie, Jay Baird, Alissa Arnason, Steven Lambke, and The Doers. Played shows with Rueben and the Dark, Gianna Lauren, Akron Family, Conversations With Bears, Clinton Saint John, Northcote, Francis Cheer, BA Johnston, and many more.
Click over to my Bandcamp page to hear some music. New record coming very soon.
- FT