Steve Forbert arrived on the music scene in 1978 fully formed and alive with youthful energy and attitude. Fast forward nearly fifty years and he continues to make music that is consistently relevant and enjoyable. Touted as one of the new Dylans, his career may have been destined to follow a specific trajectory. Instead, he chose to do things on his own terms resulting in a steady flow of top-tier releases highlighted by his ever-present tunefulness and some sharply honed storytelling. Most importantly, he has never compromised on the type of career he had in mind for himself all those years ago, remaining true to his muse and unburdened by any musical trends of the day; his original folk-punk spirit intact.
With his signature smoky southern drawl, Forbert has always come across as a bit of an old soul and, truthfully, his voice today doesn’t sound all that different than it did as a twenty-something folk-rock troubadour. It’s as if he’s aged gracefully into his voice. A masterful storyteller with a skill for creating vivid song portraits, his songs range from the deeply personal to the shrewdly observational, expertly delivered with the grit and grace of a seasoned troubadour, never overplaying his hand. And certainly, he hasn’t been shy about writing topical songs that address social and environmental issues (think The Oil Song, Good Planets are Hard To Find and more recently, Please Don’t Eat The Daisies).
Which leads us to 2025’s intriguingly titled Ebenezer’s Back In Town. As Forbert notes, the stand-alone release was “…written in response to the current administration’s first several weeks in office” and the never-ending rhetoric directed at numerous countries that, in hindsight, are beginning to sound somewhat benign considering some of the more recent developments. In typical Forbert fashion, his insightful musings never come across as preachy but take on a more reflective tone with a voice sounding both wary and weary as he sings: “Chaos kicks and mayhem screams / He’ll disrupt most everything” before commenting, “Drive on slow / Over a disjunctive land / It’s as though / Everything’s on shifting sand”.
Unlike its subject matter, it’s a reflective and mature take on world events that also manages to be extremely catchy and inviting. It bobs along on a relaxed folk-rock groove led by an insistent acoustic guitar riff whose easygoing sound belies the weightiness of the words being sung. It’s all of Forbert’s musical gifts tied up in a nice bow and a timely reminder of just how good a performer he really is. A true original, someday other americana artists will inevitably be touted as the ‘new Forbert’.
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