Acclaimed singer-songwriter Liam Forde is a talent who should be on everyone’s radar. He’s performed Off-Broadway, regionally, in London, Paris, and on numerous cabaret stages, and earned a Helen Hayes Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his work in the five-time extended production of Hand to God at the Studio Theatre in Washington DC. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he’s also the recipient of the Nightlife Award for Outstanding Male Vocalist, Julie Wilson Award, and Bistro Award for performer on the rise.
Earlier this year, Liam dropped his highly-anticipated debut album, Great to Be Here.
Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Liam about his career, Great to Be Here, and more!
PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
Liam: I was always fascinated with the way melodies and words could evoke certain feelings. My first memory of being moved by a song was hearing the nursery rhyme “Oh, Dear! What Can the Matter Be? (Johnny’s So Long at the Fair).” The plaintive waltz combined with the lyric made me really sad and worried, like the character singing it. I thought, “What if Johnny never comes back? What’s she gonna do?” I also loved the idea of someone promising someone a basket of roses. How nice!
PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Liam: I have a lot of idols, but I particularly love the music of the ’60s. It gave us the most harmonious blend of jazz and pop sounds. Burt Bacharach is a perfect example of this (I love his new album with Daniel Tashian, by the way).
I had an artistic epiphany in college when my friend showed me the 1967 French movie musical The Young Girls of Rochefort. The snappy and often frenetically sophisticated Michel Legrand score combined with Jacques Demy’s visual aesthetic blew my mind.
PC: In addition to being a musician, you’re also an actor. What have you learned from that medium that you’ve been able to apply to your music career and vice versa?
Liam: It’s all about storytelling and getting people to relate. It’s the same whether it’s a song you’ve written or a role you are preparing. Authenticity is paramount. If it’s not coming from you, people will smell it.
PC: Tell us about Great to Be Here and the inspiration behind the album.
Liam: I live my life through a romantic lens, and I wanted to make a collection of songs that showcased that taste and perspective. I wrote about things that are important to me: swingy rhythms, old-world New York, Paris, pajama sets, wacky character studies, tomatoes in peak season, and expressing joy. I was eager to find a way to take these topics and channel them into something that felt fresh.
PC: If you had to select a song off Great to Be Here that best encompasses you as an artist, which would it be and why?
Liam: “Plaza Hotel” is a hodgepodge of styles that make my heart sing: a Stevie Wonder-inspired chorus of chromatics, tight vocal harmonies reminiscent of Kay Thompson and the Williams Brothers, and an overall sense of play and theatricality. I can’t tell you how much fun my collaborator/producer/drummer Zack Eldridge and I had putting this one together.
PC: This is your debut album. Did anything surprise you about the experience of putting it together? What was the biggest takeaway?
Liam: The making of the music is the tip of the iceberg. In hindsight, it seems naive to have not known that! I heard lush arrangements when creating these songs, which meant more instrumentalists, more money, more mixing…the list goes on. I’m proud of finishing what felt like an insurmountable amount of work. And promotion! I’m still learning about how best to get my music heard by the people who would like it.
PC: As we look ahead to the rest of 2022, what can fans expect from you?
Liam: I’ve got some gigs coming up, so stay tuned. The best way to stay up to date is on my Instagram page and website. I’ve already started thinking about some new songs, so maybe another album will be here before you know it.
PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Liam: I’m a predictable creature to those who know me! I just scrolled through my Spotify and the last artists I played were Cannonball Adderley, Blossom Dearie, Lake Street Dive, Francis Poulenc, and Michel Legrand.
PC: First album you bought?
Liam: Spice the first Spice Girls album. I bought it on cassette. Obsessed.
PC: First concert you attended?
Liam: Sharon, Lois, and Bram, a Canadian children’s singing group, when I was about six. I went home that night and sobbed because I was so sad it was over. My mother will corroborate this story.
PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Liam: Ella Fitzgerald’s The Best of the Songbooks. Every melody, lyric, and arrangement on that album thrilled me—and, of course, Ella’s phrasing. That album clarified what music meant to me. It swept me up with romance, joy, heartbreak, and everything in between.
PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Liam: The Carlyle! And Le Bal Blomet in Paris. I love intimate venues.
PC: A must-have on the road?
Liam: A sense of humor.
To keep up with Liam, follow him on Instagram. Pick up or stream Great to Be Here today. See Liam in concert at Birdland Theater on Monday, June 13.
Photo Credit: Yodai Yasunaga
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Liam is “the real deal.” I had the privilege of being his high school choir director. The first day he strolled into the choir room, he sat down at the Steinway and began playing and singing. I thought, “I’ve just got to get out of his way, let him go and do what he does.” And he did! His musical taste, like his pallet (love the fresh tomatoes reference on the album) is extraordinarily. Performing for Liam looks effortless, but obviously the result of endless hard work and thoughtful prep. Applauding in the wings for him always.