Shannon Forrest (born August 22, 1973, in

Easley, South Carolina Easley is a city in Pickens County (with parts extending into Anderson County) in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Most of the city lies in Pickens County, with a small portion of the city in Anderson County. In 2001, Easley hosted the Big ...

) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. As a session drummer, he has contributed to the work of many well-known artists, and he is also a producer and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. Additionally, he served as touring drummer of Toto from 2014 to 2019, and again from 2024 to the present.

Biography

Session work

Forrest began his career working with his father Otis Forrest at The Sounding Board Studio in Easley, SC. There he recorded many projects with traditional southern Gospel and local country artists. He moved on to work as a

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

session musician, where Forrest has been involved in the recording of successful albums by

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1988 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer, Tim DuBois. Before thei ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005, returning as a judge beginning with the twenty-third season. Underwood's f ...

, Mary Chapin Carpenter,

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

, Ricky Skaggs,

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Songs ...

Lee Ann Womack Lee Ann Womack (; born August 19, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. She has charted 23 times on the American ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts; her highest peaking single there is her crossover signature song, " I Hope You Dance" ...

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prol ...

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...

, Tim McGraw, Josh Turner, Toby Keith,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, Montgomery Gentry,

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

, Michael McDonald and many others.

Toto

Forrest has been a touring musician with Toto since 2014, taking the place of

Keith Carlock Keith Carlock (born November 29, 1971) is an American musician who has played drums with Toto, Wayne Krantz, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Tal Wilkenfeld, John Mayer, Sting, Chris Botti, and Christopher Cross. In ' ...

. Forrest performed earlier with Toto in 2009, sitting in for Simon Phillips, when they were inducted into the

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum Mission Statement The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is a 501(c)(3) charity organization. The mission of the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum is to honor all great musicians regardless of genre or instruments. This is done by exhibiting t ...

in Nashville and he cites

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto, but is also one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundr ...

and Lenny Castro as his biggest influences. After disbanding in 2019, Toto returned in 2020 with a new lineup which didn't include Forrest. However, it was announced on the band’s Facebook page that he and keyboardist

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...

were returning ahead of the 2024 tour.

Dukes of September

From 2010 to 2012, Forrest played with

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a bandmate of Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller in the Ardells in the early 1960s and a member of the Steve Miller Band from 1967 to 196 ...

, Michael McDonald, and

Donald Fagen Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who is the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker ...

on their Dukes of September tours.

Equipment

Forrest currently plays

Pearl Drums , simply known as Pearl, is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominantly percussion instruments. History Time! Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa -who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, T ...

Paiste Paiste (English pronunciation: , ) is a Switzerland, Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. is an Estonian language, Estonian and Finnish language, ...

Cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and drum hardware, hardware, and various percussio ...

Drumhead A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. The drumhead is struck with sticks, mallets, or hands, so that it vibrates and the sound resonates through the drum. Additionally outside of percus ...

s, and Innovative Percussion. Previously, he was the sole exclusive artist for the Brady Drum Company. For his work with Toto, Forrest used a Brady Jarrah Ply drum kit with a red sparkle finish, which was mounted on a

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

Icon rack. Forrest also plays Gon Bops Mariano

Conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

s, Mariano

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

, and Mariano

Djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

Awards

* Academy of Country Music Award for Drummer of the Year (seven times)

Discography

This section presents a partial list of albums to which Forrest has contributed.

1994–99

* 1994: The Arnolds – ''Read Between the Nails'' (Cherish Music) * 1994: The Freemans – ''In a High Wind'' (Goldenvine) * 1996:

Jeff Foxworthy Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy (born September 6, 1958) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and radio and television host. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, with Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall, and formerly Ron White. Known f ...

– '' Crank It Up: The Music Album'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

) * 1997:

The Kinleys The Kinleys were an American country music duo composed of identical twin sisters Heather and Jennifer Kinley (born November 5, 1970). Between 1997 and 2000, they recorded two albums for Epic Records (1997's ''Just Between You and Me (The Kinleys ...

– '' Just Between You and Me'' (

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

) * 1997: Ricky Skaggs – ''Life is a Journey'' (

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

) * 1997: Sheri Easter – ''Sheri'' (Spring Hill) * 1997: The Bishops – ''Reach The World'' (Homeland) * 1997: John Hager – ''October Road'' (PWD/Huge) * 1997: Matt King – ''Five O'Clock Hero'' (Atlantic) * 1998:

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

– '' White Christmas'' (RCA) * 1998: The Wilkinsons – '' Nothing but Love'' (

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

) * 1998:

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing p ...

– ''I Turn the Page'' (Giant) * 1999: Jennifer Day – ''The Fun of Your Love'' ( BNA)

2000–04

* 2000:

– '' When It All Goes South'' (RCA) * 2000:

Steph Carse Stephen Carse (born May 22, 1965), credited as Steph Carse is a Canadian pop singer. Career Originally from Montreal, Quebec,"Steph Carse showcases his songwriting". '' The Gazette'', December 8, 1994. Carse began his career in the 1990s. His fi ...

– ''Steph Carse'' (H2E) * 2000: Ricky Skaggs and Friends – ''Big Mon: The Songs of

Bill Monroe William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its n ...

'' (Skaggs Family) * 2000:

– '' II'' (Epic) * 2000:

– '' There You Go Again'' (Dreamcatcher) * 2001:

Jim Brickman James Merrill Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American pop songwriter, pianist and radio host. Brickman has earned two Grammy nominations for his albums ''Peace'' (2003) for Best Instrumental, and ''Faith'' (2009) for Best New Age Album. ...

– ''Simple Things'' ( Windham Hill) * 2001:

– '' Steers & Stripes'' (Arista Nashville) * 2001:

Chris Cagle Christopher Norris Cagle (born November 10, 1968) is an American country music artist. He was first known for writing songs for David Kersh before signing to Virgin Records Nashville in 2000. Cagle made his debut on ''Billboard (magazine), Bill ...

– '' Play It Loud'' (Capitol) * 2001: Wanessa Camargo – '' Wanessa Camargo'' (BMG Brasil) * 2002: Bonnie Bramlett – ''I'm Still The Same'' (

Koch Records MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch"), formerly known as Koch Records and Entertainment One (eOne) Music/Records, is an American independent record label and music management company based in New York City. It was formed in 1987 as a music div ...

) * 2002:

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...

with Maia Sharp and Buddy Mondlock – '' Everything Waits to be Noticed'' (

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

) * 2002:

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

– '' Unleashed'' ( DreamWorks) * 2002: Shana Morrison – '' 7 Wishes'' (

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

) * 2002:

Joe Nichols Joseph Edward Nichols (born November 26, 1976) is an American country music artist. Between 1996 and 2001, he held recording contracts with the Intersound and Giant Records (Warner), Giant labels. In 2002, he signed with Universal South Records, ...

– '' Man with a Memory'' (Universal South) * 2003: Josh Turner – '' Long Black Train'' (MCA Nashville) * 2004: Maura O'Connell – ''Don't I Know'' (Sugar Hill) * 2004: Mindy Smith – '' One Moment More'' (Vanguard) * 2004: Montgomery Gentry – '' You Do Your Thing'' ( Columbia) * 2004:

Phil Vassar Phillip George Vassar Jr. (born May 28, 1962) is an American country music artist. Vassar made his debut on the country music scene in the late 1990s, co-writing singles for several country artists, including Tim McGraw (" For a Little While", ...

– '' Shaken Not Stirred'' (Arista Nashville)

2005–09

* 2005:

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

– ''

Fireflies The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

'' (

) * 2005:

– '' Some Hearts'' (

Arista Nashville Arista Nashville was an American record label that served as a wholly owned division of Sony Music, operated under the Sony Music Nashville division. Founded in 1989, the label specialized in country music artists, including Alan Jackson, Brooks ...

) * 2005:

– '' Jasper County'' (MCA Nashville) * 2006:

– '' Hillbilly Deluxe'' (

) * 2006: Matt Dusk – '' Back in Town'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

) * 2006:

– '' White Trash with Money'' ( Show Dog Nashville) * 2006:

– '' Water & Bridges'' (Capitol Nashville) * 2006: Josh Turner – '' Your Man'' ( MCA Nashville) * 2007:

– '' Real Things'' ( Universal South) * 2007: Josh Turner – '' Everything Is Fine'' (MCA Nashville) – banjo, resonator guitar, acoustic guitar * 2008: Trace Adkins – '' X (Ten)'' (Capitol Nashville) * 2008:

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Johnson (née Simpson; born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' ...

– '' Do You Know'' (Epic) * 2009:

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

– '' Keep on Loving You'' (Valory)

2010–present

* 2010:

– '' Speak Now'' (Big Machine Records) * 2010: Josh Turner – '' Haywire'' (MCA Nashville) * 2012:

Jana Kramer Jana Rae Kramer (born December 2, 1983) Gives birthplace as Detroit, Michigan, of which Rochester Hills is a suburb. is an American actress and country music, country singer. She is known for her role as Alex Dupre on the television series ''One ...

– ''

'' ( Elektra Nashville) * 2012: Josh Turner– '' Punching Bag'' (MCA Nashville) * 2014:

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

– '' Sundown Heaven Town'' (Big Machine) * 2014: Josh Thompson - '' Turn it Up'' ( Show Dog) * 2015:

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician who is a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and co-lead vocalist, as well as its sole continuous member. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles ...

– '' Cass County'' ( Capitol) * 2017: Josh Turner – ''

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

'' (MCA Nashville) * 2017: Michael McDonald – '' Wide Open'' (Chonin- BMG) * 2018: Toto – '' Old Is New'' (Columbia) * 2019: Toto – ''40 Tours Around the Sun'' (

Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, Shannon Living people American rock drummers American session musicians 1976 births 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 21st-century American drummers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Drummers from South Carolina