Mon, 03/09/2020 - 2:00pm

Forest City and Friends - first CD to be released March 23. Courtesy of Christian Muccino

CD art by Leo Lyxx of Finland. Courtesy of Christian Muccino

Forest City and Friends - first CD to be released March 23. Courtesy of Christian Muccino

CD art by Leo Lyxx of Finland. Courtesy of Christian Muccino

Forest City and Friends is proud to announce the Monday, March 23 release of their debut self-titled album, as well as their CD release show on May 30 at Portland House of Music at 25 Temple Street. Doors open at 8 p.m. for the 21+ show. Music begins at 9 p.m. and opening will be Torin Muccino and guests (TBA).

The band, which first came together in late 2016, began as a songwriting collaboration between local rock luminaries Pete Giordano (Twisted Roots, Heart Shaped Rock) and Christian Muccino (formerly of Wiscasset; Endless Interstate, Liquid Daydream) and with the addition of Greg Goodwin (Mercy, Akela Moon) the group quickly assembled an album of songs and began to recruit various “friends” to record with. The “friends” included Mike Chasse (Dominic and The Lucid), Ryan Zoidis (Lettuce, Rustic Overtones), Tony McNaboe (Rustic Overtones, Ray Lamontagne), Jordan Warsky (Endless Interstate, Liquid Daydream), Chris Dow (Mallett Brothers), Sheridan (Heart Shaped Rock), as well as several others.

Giordano said of the assembled band, “Each player brought their unique style and sound to complete the recording, adding elements such as sax, keyboards, cajon, flute, bell, sitar and backing vocals, resulting in a harmonious gathering of minds and souls to create rhythm. We’ve been told it sounds like Tom Petty meets Coldplay!”

The first two singles from the CD, “Phone Booth” and “Companion” are currently being played on 106.3 WHXR-FM and WCYY-FM in Portland and on 106.9 WBQX-FM in Rockland. YOu can also give them a listen on YouTube.

The CD was produced, recorded and mixed by Anthony Gatti (and the band) at his studio The Bulkhead in Scarborough, and mastered at the world famous Gateway Mastering in Portland by Grammy Award winning engineer Adam Ayan. Gatti has engineered several local albums, included recent releases by Muddy Ruckus, Endless Interstate and Cosmic.

The physical CD will be available exclusively at all Bull Moose stores throughout Maine, with online fulfillment through www.bullmoose.com. An early release of the CD is also happening at Bull Moose on Friday, March 20.

The digital version will be available on all of the popular sites like Amazon, Google Play, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, and others.

FMI/tickets to the CD release show May 30: www.portlandhouseofmusic.com

For more on the band, visit www.forestcityandfriends.com