ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Liberal Memorial Library has seen its share of entertainment throughout the summer thanks to its summer reading program, and the entertainment will soon continue.
Musical artist Forrest McCurren will be performing a concert at Liberal Memorial Library Wednesday, July 24, with the show starting at 6 p.m. As McCurren tells it, music has been a big part of his life for many years.
“I'm originally from the middle of Missouri, which is where my wife and I currently live. We started playing music in Kansas City around 2017 or 2018, and then we put out our debut album in the summer of 2022. Since then, we've played 350 to 400 shows on the road all the way out to Utah and South Carolina and many, many other places in between,” McCurren said. “Then, some of my first memories involve music. My grandmother played the organ at her church, Prairie Chapel United Methodist Church, and I can vividly remember crawling around that church and around that organ and hearing hymns like 'In The Garden' and 'Just A Closer Walk With Thee.' Along with that, my mother listened almost exclusively to Willie Nelson when I was growing up, so I was inundated with that type of music as well, which I still really enjoy even to this day. Music was such a big part of my life growing up, and I was also a sports kid too and did that all through college. My older brother, who's a fantastic guitarist, gifted me an acoustic guitar when I was in college, and I've had that ever since. I've also always been a big fan of writing, whether it's short stories or journaling or poetry or whatever, and then as soon as I got my guitar, that's when I got more serious about songwriting. So writing's also been big in my life, and I really admire artists like Bob Dylan and John Prine, those guys can write songs that really reach people, and they've been big inspirations to me during my career.”
The chance to see the country, McCurren said, has been a big factor in keeping him going in his career.
“I really just love the lifestyle. I love the traveling and going to cool new towns and making new friends and meeting new people,” McCurren said. “I always say being on the road gives me a big sense of hope in other people, because when you roll up to somewhere new, people are always willing to tell you the history and their favorite places to eat and other favorite aspects of the area.”
This will be McCurren’s second visit to Liberal, and he said he cannot wait to get back to the area.
“We were actually in Liberal for the first time last year, we played a concert at the Baker Arts Center, and we absolutely loved it. We were on a tour for High Plains Public Radio out of Amarillo, Texas, and Liberal happened to be in the listening area, and we ended up doing a show at the Baker Arts Center,” McCurren said. “We also got to stay at a hotel close to the Coronado Museum/Dorothy's House and the Land of Oz, which was great to stroll through. With this being our second time there in town, it'll be great to see some of the friends we made that night, and we're also excited to tour a bit through the library. My hometown library when I was a child was my happy place, so I'm excited to meet all the library crew and know the community a little more and share my stories and music with some more people. The idea for us visiting the library got sparked last year when we were on that High Plains Public Radio tour, because that night was when Royce [Kitts] and I exchanged e-mail addresses and kind of got the ball rolling as far as us doing another Liberal show, and then it was a few months ago when we finally found a date in our schedule that would work for everyone.”
McCurren said he hopes to see a big audience for the show.
“First and foremost, come out and support the library, because libraries rule, and they're such a great resource not only for education but also to spark the imaginations of people to create art. It's also always great to be among other people in the community, and our show is more laid back and relaxed, so it'll be a very nice evening with some good music and some good storytelling,” McCurren said. “The show we'll be doing will be centered on storytelling and how those stories led to the ideas for the songs we'll be performing. It'll be like folk art in real time because we'll share the stories behind the songs and then perform the songs themselves. I always refer to the people in my songs as heroes of the heartland, so hopefully the people in Liberal will be able to relate to the music and be reminded of at least one person they know, whether it's a good friend or relative.”
McCurren added the Liberal show is just the start of an upcoming tour.
“Our Liberal show will actually kick off a long run out west for us, because after Liberal, we'll be at the Wallace County Fair in Sharon Springs, and then Dodge City, and then we'll be in the Texas Panhandle before visiting Colorado and New Mexico, so we'll be bouncing around the area and definitely keeping busy,” McCurren said. “We'll be revisiting some places we've played before, which is always fun because we'll see some old friends, and we'll also be rolling up to some new places, which is also great. We're really excited to be on the road and see a lot of the country, it'll be almost like an extended road trip.”
Overall, McCurren said, he is excited to get back to the area.
“We're really thankful to the library and Liberal for letting us come back and do another concert,” McCurren said. “It'll be a great evening of stories and music, and if you need to, why not come and also renew your library card?”
