Forest Wayne Allen’s Final Album
A few years ago, I produced a record for my good friend, Forest Wayne Allen. We recorded it with Gary Hickinbotham at The Fire Station in San Marcos, TX. Forest was lucky to be alive at that point. He’d been stabbed multiple times by an acquaintance, not long before we went in the studio. This record seemed like a good way to get back to living and playing music. It was a fresh start.
We cut some of Forest’s original tunes and we also picked some incredible songs by other local songwriters that were milling around Cheatham Street at the time. Great writers and friends of Forest, like Pake Rossi and Jaime Cortinas. The album is called “Two Packs and a Hard Knock” and the title track was written by Marshall J Anderson. It’s a beautiful song about a person battling addiction and depression.
The Forest that recovered from the attack was a different Forest, understandably so. I can’t imagine the PTSD that comes from an event like that but it was a tragic turn for such a fun-loving guy. Forest started spiraling not long after we wrapped up the record and the album never saw the light of day; I hope to change that soon. We had incredible musicians like Dees Stribling, Dan Johnson, Cody Braun, and Lars Albrecht playing on it.
Unfortunately, the album was never mastered or pressed onto cds. I’m raising funds to ensure that Forest’s legacy lives on through his music. All donations will go towards the cost of album art, mastering,and pressing cds (and hopefully vinyl records). Anything that is raised beyond those costs will be given to his family to help cover any funeral costs.
See you on the other side, Forest Wayne.
