Ukulele Lesson #38: Carmaig de Forest

Carmaig de Forest is a singer-songwriter, mainly on the ukulele, but also the guitar, originating from Los Angeles, California. Since starting his career as a ukulele singer-songwriter, he has mostly stayed in the creative musical underground of California and Baltimore, at one time touring with the Violent Femmes, who would later play with him on his DeathGrooveLoveParty album. Perhaps his most recognized achievement was being the warm-up artist for the Ramones in the early 1980s.

De Forest's political songwriting style has been referred to as "Raymond Carver's poems set to music". De Forest is also not afraid of expressing his political opinions, as he released a single called "George Bush Lies" in 1992, and re-recorded that song, this time protesting against his son, George W. Bush for the 2004 Presidential Election.

Many of his songs have been covered by his friends in the Baltimore and Vancouver underground scene, including Canadian accordion player Geoff Berner, who claims to be "touring for two", as Carmaig de Forest plays mainly underground gigs, while Berner is a bit more on the road.

His fourth studio album, Idiot Strings, was released on the Serious Records label on September 9, 2007.

Carmaig de Forest - Ballad of the Green Guitar (available on his album "Idiot Strings")





Classic "Coldwater Park" - Carmaig de Forest (available on his album "El Camino Real")





"The Great Great Plain" - Carmaig de Forest (available on his album "Idiot Strings")



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