Biography
By the arrival of the new millennium Roy Forbes could already look back on close to thirty years spent in the music industry, where he worked as a guitarist, vocalist, and sought-after songwriter while occasionally retreating from center stage to serve as a producer. His professional path opened in the early 1970s. Within just a few years he had issued numerous singles and full-length recordings, all issued under the childhood nickname Bim. Later he began appearing under his given name and alongside the ensemble UHF. Across those projects he moved through an assortment of idioms that ranged from rock and country to material aimed at younger listeners. By the 1990s his compositions were turning up in television mini-series as well as on the long-running children’s program Sesame Street.
Roy Forbes entered the world in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, in 1953. He spent his childhood in a household of sisters without any brothers to balance the numbers. Once he reached his late teens he left home and relocated to Vancouver carrying little beyond ambitious plans for a musical career. Early recognition arrived more rapidly than most observers expected. In 1975, still recording as Bim for the Casino Records imprint, he finished his first album, Kid Full of Dreams. The follow-up, Raincheck on Misery, appeared the next year. When not in the studio Forbes maintained a steady schedule of tours, festival appearances, and assorted live engagements.
He kept issuing records and playing concerts under the nickname through the early 1980s. In 1985 he adopted his legal name for a pair of albums, The Human Kind and New Songs for an Old Celebration. Shortly afterward he teamed with Bill Henderson and Shari Ulrich to create the trio UHF, which released two self-titled collections. In 1995 Forbes assembled many of his earlier recordings into the retrospective album Almost Overnight. Among the individual tracks he has committed to tape over the decades are “Can’t Catch Me,” “Tough Time,” “And Now You Want My Love,” “Sweet Shameless Hours,” “Tiny Island,” “For So Long,” and “The Damage That We Do.”
Roy Forbes entered the world in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, in 1953. He spent his childhood in a household of sisters without any brothers to balance the numbers. Once he reached his late teens he left home and relocated to Vancouver carrying little beyond ambitious plans for a musical career. Early recognition arrived more rapidly than most observers expected. In 1975, still recording as Bim for the Casino Records imprint, he finished his first album, Kid Full of Dreams. The follow-up, Raincheck on Misery, appeared the next year. When not in the studio Forbes maintained a steady schedule of tours, festival appearances, and assorted live engagements.
He kept issuing records and playing concerts under the nickname through the early 1980s. In 1985 he adopted his legal name for a pair of albums, The Human Kind and New Songs for an Old Celebration. Shortly afterward he teamed with Bill Henderson and Shari Ulrich to create the trio UHF, which released two self-titled collections. In 1995 Forbes assembled many of his earlier recordings into the retrospective album Almost Overnight. Among the individual tracks he has committed to tape over the decades are “Can’t Catch Me,” “Tough Time,” “And Now You Want My Love,” “Sweet Shameless Hours,” “Tiny Island,” “For So Long,” and “The Damage That We Do.”
Albums
Strikin' Matches LIVE!
2014
Going Home
2009
Some Tunes For That Mother Of Mine
2006
Crazy Old Moon
1997
Almost Overnight
1995
The Human Kind
1991
Singles
