Deirdre Forrest

Deirdre Forrest is an emerging singer-songwriter with distinct vocal qualities. Deirdre draws inspiration from a vast variety of artists and musical styles, such as: Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss, Aretha Franklin, Neko Case, Sam Cooke, The Beatles, Patty Griffin, Ella Fitzgerald, and Amy Winehouse, to name just a few. She herself creates melodic, poetic stories that are drenched in descriptive language and raw, personal recollections. Now a fixture in the Jersey scene, she has collaborated with many artists, on their projects, (such as Michael Brett, Tony Tedesco, Tommy Strazza and most recently Brandon Kiefer of The Places You've Been), by lending her voice.

She is known for the power and soulfulness, and in contrast, the vunerability and softness of her pipes. As much as her voice gets noticed, her song writing abilities were also acknowledged at the 2012 JAM awards in NJ. She won Top Female Songwriter that year.

Deirdre hails from New Jersey, originally from Spotswood, but she moved all around the state, from South Amboy to East Windsor to Asbury Park. Her father, Stuart Forrest, is also a talented multi-instrumentalist and poet that introduced her to her true passions at a very young age: music and literature.

Deirdre was in an Irish Folk duo called Beannacht with her Uncle, Thomas Johnston from 2009 until 2012. Despite their minor musical success in the Jersey area, Beannacht parted ways in the Summer of 2012 to work on their solo projects.

After Beannacht split, she began penning the songs that she wanted to be on her debut record, Weathered Woes. She started the recording and pre-production process in March of 2013 at Main Street Studios in Middletown, with Sound Engineer, Brian Osteting of The Wag. The recording and mixing were finished in April of 2014. The album was released May 18th, 2014.

Deirdre lives in Ocean Grove, the lovely movie-set-like town that's directly next to infamous Asbury Park. She creates music with her brilliant partner Michael Brett. They've formed a duo called The May Darlings. And Deirdre's brand new backing band is called The Backseams, which Michael is also at the helm of. He is a fantastic Jersey songwriter who's been wowing the shore scene for over 10 years now. Collectively, they're best known for the distinct blend of their lyrics and voices, and sharpness of their vocal harmonies.

Deirdre put out her debut album, Weathered Woes in May of 2014. Here are some wind