Andy
J Forest - Harmonica - Vocals - Frattoir
Born on May 10th 1955
Harmonica player - Singer Songwriter,
Born Washington State in 1955, but his family moved to Southern
California when Andy was just a few weeks old. In the 1960’s
and early 1970’s Los Angeles area had a lot of great blues
like George Smith, Rod Piazza, Charlie Musselwhite and a lot of
others. These were Andy’s first influences. In 1975 at the
age of 19 he went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras but wound up staying.
There he was able to sit in with Earl King, James Booker, Dave
Malone and many other local greats. He went to Europe to see the
sights but when he ran out of money he quickly learned that he
could get by playing Harmonica. At first on the Streets of Paris
and Barcelona with an African guitar player (Tao Ravao) and later
he did some sound tracks for films, played in clubs and then festivals
and theaters. He wound up in Italy in 1979. ten days turned into
ten years. Between 1985 and 1990 Forest acted in a dozen films
shot in Italy, Morocco, Brazil, Venezuela and Croatia. Sometimes
lead roles. But he never stopped playing. Andy has been playing
harmonica and singing professionally since 1977. He has recorded
22 albums and two 45s. These recordings feature mostly Forest’s
original songs. After living in Europe for ten years he returned
to his home New Orleans in 1991 where he plays in clubs and goes
on tour in Europe and Canada occasionally.
He has played on stage with B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, James
Cotton, Luther Allison, Johnny Shines, Champion Jack DuPree, James
Booker and many other greats of the Blues. He has written scores
of songs, one novel which was published in 3 languages (“Letter
From Hell”) He also paints “outside” art, mostly
of blues and jazz singers. Andy’s CD “Real Stories:
of Love Labor and Other Man-Made Catastrophes” for Slang
Records won “Best Blues Album” of 2007 in the Best
of The Beat Awards of New Orleans. The 2011 CD “NOtown Story:
The Triumph of Turmoil” was nominated for another Best of
The Beat Award for 2010. The latest CDs are “Other Rooms”
and “Word Shadows & Ghost Notes”.
"Letter
From Hell"
Discography
Booking
Agents
Italian
Bio | French Bio
|