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music by Ben D'Andrea R.ov Forbes proves a genuine singer-songwriter always finds a way to keep the creative fires burning. Even after a 25-year career and ten albums. Forbes still looks for challenges. "Keep Lightin' That Fire." a song Forbes wrote in 1991. contains, he says, "my words to myself." A musician of his calibre also pays attention to the music of the past. Songs written and performed by Forbes are entirely unique but their roots run deep into the music he listened to growing up in Dawson Creek. There was country music playing on the radio tuned to CJDC's The Western Hour. There was Grandpa Moore's Jimmie Roders 78s. and later, hit singles by Elvis. Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers that Forbes' older sisters brought home. And then there was his Uncle Dudley, popular with his guitar and. in the Forbes home at least, considered a better singer than Hank Snow. Taken together, Forbes' last two solo albums are really a kind of musical homecoming. "When I was really little, country music surrounded me." Forbes says. "Country music helped me reconnect with my past." The Human Kind, an album released in 1992, revisits the country music of the '40s and '50s he grew up listening to--tunes by Hank Williams. Webb Pierce. A.P. Carter. Don Gibson. Hank Snow and Bruce Miller. Forbes' renditions, however, aren't mere imitations. His oftenpraised and incomparable high tenor voice finds its way to the deep emotional core of each song. Listening to 77if Human Kind is like discovering the old hit records all over again. Also on the album are several of Forbes' original tunes, and what's impressive is just how easily they blend in with the old favourites. A song like "Days Turn into Nights." written when he was 22 and had just recorded his first solo album, manages both to echo country hits of the past and reveal an original songwriter and performer. Anatomy of a Songwriter Members of UHF: (l-r) Shari Ulrich, Bill Henderson and Roy Forbes. Almost Overnight. Forbes' latest album, released in 1995, is a homecoming of a different kind. On it are the songs he wrote and performed in the early years of his career when his stage name was still Bim, the nickname he acquired back in Dawson Creek. Most of the songs on Almost Overnight were first recorded on the four "Bim" albums, now "out of print." so re-recording them "live off the floor." Forbes notes, was "kind of like reclaiming my past." The past isn't Forbes' only source of inspiration, however. He keeps a journal, he explains, as a way of keeping the creative muscle in shape. "I love words," he says. "It's fun to play with words." For Forbes, the work-play often evolves into ideas for lyrics. Sometimes, as with his song, "Call Up an Old Friend," the lyrics were there waiting for him in his journal. At other times, though, "stuff just happens." Forbes says. He'll be doing chores around the house, and a song will just "come out of the air." That's what happened with a new tune called "Smelly Feet," one of seven Forbes has written for Canadian Sesame Street. He was horsing around with his six-year-old daughter. Suzannah. when the song came to him. Forbes' musical collaboration with his daughter is of the spontaneous kind. On a more professional level is Forbes' work with two other singersongwriters. Shari Ulrich and Bill Henderson. Know as UHF. the three performers have taken their unique acoustic energy and collaborated on two albums. But UHF started spontaneously back in 1989. when the three singers first got together for a single performance at the Vancouver Winter Roots Festival. On both albums, they each perform their own songs, with substantial vocal and instrumental backup from the other two. "It's been a great outlet," Forbes says of his UHF work. And it shows. Certainly, his UHF music is powered by his characteristic passion and conviction. And a song like "Do I Love You" also contains touches of wry humour in the lyrics. In addition to the songs he writes for his own repertoire. Forbes recently scored two soundtracks: one in 1993 for Nettie Wild's documentary. Blockade, and another in 1995 for a six-part TV series. Eye Level. These new endeavours "took a little bit of adjusting," he admits. "I'm used to calling the shots." But Forbes welcomes the new challenge. "It opens different areas of creativity." he says, adding modestly. "I have a long way to go to make great soundtrack work." As for the future. Forbes plans more work with UHF. as well as solo concerts, including festivals this summer. And. with his non-stop creative mind, he's already written a handful of songs for his next solo album."" Ben D'Andrea is a freelance writer living in Burnaby. UHF's next concert appearance is on April 20 at North Vancouver's Centennial Theatre. Call 984-4484 for more information. The group will draw substantially from the songs on the two UHF albums, but Forbes promises, "there will be new material by concert time."