Forest Sun (born August 6, 1973) is an Americana singer-songwriter from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States.

History

He was born Forest Sun Schumacher, in

Glens Falls Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,830 at the 2020 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls ref ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. In 1999, Forest Sun created the

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

, Painted Sun Records, and released his first album, ''Not Afraid''. The following year he released ''Plenty'', in San Francisco, California.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted that "in these ten small gems, Sun offers the Muse the gift of his voice to write and sing though. Traces of rock & roll's past, present, and hopefully future mingle with

progressive folk music Progressive folk is a style of contemporary folk that adds new layers of musical and lyrical complexity, often incorporating various ethnic influences. History Origins of the term The original meaning of progressive folk came from its links to ...

, textured, moody pop, and a healthy sense of literary finesse." In 2002, Forest Sun performed at the Strawberry Music Festival, and Shoreline Amphitheatre, opening for

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

and

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American country singer and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded 14 albums and released 25 singles to dat ...

. In 2003, he performed at the Concord Pavilion opening for

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

Keb Mo Kevin Roosevelt Moore (born October 3, 1951), known as Keb' Mo', is an American blues musician. He is a singer, guitarist and songwriter, living in Nashville, Tennessee. He has been described as "a living link to the seminal Delta blues that tra ...

, and

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

''For The Story'' (2003) was again commented on my AllMusic noting "The highlight is the album's centerpiece track, "Always," a jazzy piano-based shuffle featuring guest vocals by the

Be Good Tanyas The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian folk music group formed in Vancouver in 1999. Their influences include folk, country, and bluegrass. The style of music they perform can be referred to as alt-country or Americana. History The Be Good Tanyas f ...

Jolie Holland Jolie Holland (born September 11, 1975) is an American singer and performer who combines elements of folk, traditional, experimental, and rock. Career Growing up in her birthplace of Houston, Texas, Holland left in 1994, moving to Austin, Ne ...

." He later hosted Songbird Radio on KWMR in

Point Reyes Station, California Point Reyes Station (formerly Marin and Olema Station) is a small unincorporated town in western Marin County, California, United States. Point Reyes Station is located south-southeast of Tomales, at an elevation of . Point Reyes Station is loca ...

. In 2005, he played at the

Mountain Winery The Mountain Winery, formerly the Paul Masson Mountain Winery, is a winery in Saratoga, California, United States, North America. It was founded by Paul Masson, a pioneer of the California wine industry. The winery became famous for its slogan, vo ...

, opening for the

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

. ''Walk Through Walls'' was released on May 13, 2005. In 2008, prompted by his mother's battle with cancer, Forest Sun began a benefit project to support people with cancer and their families by hosting benefit concerts in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, which led to producing

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s called ''Songs for Laura''. These albums brought together over forty artists such as

Sean Hayes Sean Patrick Hayes (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he gained acclaim for his role as Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'', for which he won a Primet ...

Animal Liberation Orchestra Animal Liberation Orchestra (also known casually as ALO) is a California rock band currently signed to Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records label. They have released four full-length albums for Brushfire, as well as a number of prior independent ...

Brett Dennen Brett Michael Dennen (born October 28, 1979) is an American folk/pop singer-songwriter from Central California. His seventh studio album, ''See the World'' was released in July 2021. Early life Dennen grew up in Central Valley, California in a s ...

, Matt the Electrician, Tom Freund,

Danny Schmidt Danny Schmidt (born October 7, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas, where he now lives with his wife, fellow musician and singer-songwriter Carrie Elkin. Biography Schmidt was born in 1970 and grew up in Austin, Texa ...

Anaïs Mitchell Anaïs Mitchell (; born March 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Mitchell has released eight studio albums, including ''Hadestown (album), Hadestown'' (2010), ''Young Man in America'' (2012),The Mammals The Mammals are a contemporary folk rock band based in the Hudson Valley area of New York (state), New York, in the United States. The band tours internationally and consists of founding members and principal songwriters Michael J. Merenda Jr., ...

and Devon Sproule. ''So Nice'' and ''Harlequin Goodnight'', featuring songs with

ALO Alo or ALO may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Alo'' (film), a 2003 Bengali drama * Alo Creevey, a fictional character in TV series ''Skins'' ** "Alo" (''Skins series 5'') ** "Alo" (''Skins series 6'') * Animal Liberation Orchestra ...

and

, were issued in 2008. The following year, Forest Sun added the musical collaboration of Ingrid Serban and the two begin to tour as a duo. Forest Sun released his first children's album, ''Just for Fun'' (2010), which was a collection of original songs and Americana classics such as "

You Are My Sunshine "You Are My Sunshine" is an American standard of old-time and country music and the state song of Louisiana. Its original writer is disputed. According to the performance rights organization BMI, by the year 2000 the song had been recorded by ...

," and "

Polly Wolly Doodle "Polly Wolly Doodle" was an American minstrel song that became a popular children's song. It was sung by Dan Emmett's Virginia Minstrels, who premiered the song at New York's Bowery Amphitheatre in February 1843, and is often credited to Emmett ...

". The recordings featured members of Marley's Ghost and Ingrid Serban. In 2012, Forest Sun released ''Just Begun''. The album featured Tucsonian musicians such as Winston Watson, drummer for

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and

Lenny Kravitz Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His debut album ''Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz album), Let Love Rule'' (1989) was characterized by a blend of Rock music, rock ...

, Jacob Valenzuela, trumpet player for

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Dieg ...

, and was recorded in

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, at the Wavelab Studios. In 2018 thanks to his Kickstarter backers Forest began releasing a new song every month culminating in a new album to be released in October 2019. As an actor Forest has appeared in the film “Who’s there?” (directed by Cassie Jaye and premiering at the Tall Grass Film Festival) Forest played a fireman and his song “Long Day” is in the soundtrack during the closing credits. “All Sales Final” Directed by Ingrid Serban won “Best Short Film made on a Smart Device” at the Albuquerque Film and Music Festival.“Elusory” directed by Scott Steiner premiered at the Amazon Underground Film Festival in Brazil. Forest composed the soundtrack to the upcoming feature documentary “Free Trip To Egypt”.

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forest Sun 1973 births Living people People from Glens Falls, New York Singer-songwriters from New York (state) 21st-century American singer-songwriters