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I write songs because I have to, not because I want to. It's part of who I am. I've had my fair share of happiness and disappointments in life and grief and joy, and I've found that writing music helps me deal with the bad and appreciate the good. I've been writing since I was seven years old. The first song I ever wrote was a song about my dog Suzie after an incident between her mouth and my hand. It went something like "Suzie, Suzie you're no good, Suzie, Suzie you don't do as you should…." My parents got me a guitar when I was seven, and I learned a couple of two finger chords and wrote that first song. I've been playing guitar seriously since I was 13. Before that time I would make cardboard cutouts of instruments and sit them around the room and pretend I had a band. I also played trumpet and French horn throughout high school and college, along with learning banjo and piano while still writing. I went to college, got a degree and tried to live the normal job life but I always felt something was missing. So back in 1992, I went to a poetry reading. I asked them if it would be okay to play some of the songs I had written. After my poetry performance I was asked to come back and play on a regular basis. That is more or less my musical beginning.
"Kate's a folk singer, playing coffeehouse gigs…"(Elizabeth's Gone)
I performed for a few years in Oklahoma at various coffeehouses as a solo act. Then in 1995, my husband and I moved to Kansas City, Missouri and I met a talented songwriter/harmonica player named Bill Thompson. Bill and I wrote and recorded a CD called "Mojo Hum". The CD was recorded at my home on a four-track analog recorder with Bill and I playing all of the instruments. We played around with the idea of expanding to a band but only got as far as bringing in another guitarist, Gordon Hobbs. As things happen and don't happen for struggling songwriters and performers, Bill decided to quit the group to live a more normal life without the headaches of begging for gigs. I'll be quite honest, it felt like a divorce; but Gordon's friendship and talent helped ease the pain. We worked for several months performing and writing. During this time I was asked to write and record a promotional song for PBS television station KMOS-TV called "Stay Curious". The song was later nominated for a NETA award and I got a free tip to Vegas for the award ceremony. We then decided to record a second CD with songs we had been writing called "Too Late For Regrets". We wanted to have more of a band sound, so we brought in bass player Neal Wolahan and drummer Justin Brockway to play on the CD. They did an amazing job, learning the songs in just two weeks before the scheduled recording date in August of 2000 at Steve Phillips' (formerly of The Rainmakers) Big Time Studios. Gordon and I enjoyed the sound and camaraderie of a band so we changed our name to Swink and became a hard driving foursome. Neal stayed on at bass and Charlie Carter joined us to play drums for our shows.
"We're precious and precarious there, we shared a passionate light…"(Amber Room)
The band worked together for about two years, playing in the Kansas City, St. Louis and the Columbia, Missouri area; and had four original songs featured in an independent film called "The Ballad of the Tucker Brothers". We were also chosen as a featured performer for the Heartland Music Festival. The foursome of Swink had a great sound that fell somewhere between Janis Joplin and Creedence Clearwater. However, as people grew and life changed the band slowly dissolved back to the duo of Gordon Hobbs and Kathy Forste. At first I missed playing with a group, but I found I was missing the ability to get across my lyrics in a full band sound and Gordon's amazing finger-picking guitar style seemed to be lost in all that sound.
" You just want one good shot before the song starts to fade…" (Bloodshot Courage)
Currently, we are working on recording some instrumental pieces to be used for television and writing more songs than ever before. We are concentrating on doing more live shows to showcase our writing and playing talents and hope to go back into the studio sometime in the next year. We've played a variety of places over the last ten years -- everything from outdoor festivals to wine tastings, from restaurants to bar gigs. I think you'll find our sound bigger than it appears. While there are only two of us, we are a musical powerhouse. Our sound, because we are two acoustics and two voices, keeps the music subtle and listenable. Our lyrics are strong and personal and we work hard on making the sound of each song an emotional experience. Please give us a try and you'll find a unique and wonderful sound.
Kathy Forste, Summer 2003
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