This review of Forrest Whitlow's CD, 7, was in the Pitch on Oct. 4, 2008.
If it's possible to be a cult favorite in a scene as small as Kansas City's, Forrest Whitlow is making a good run at it. The prolific songwriter's seventh album — conveniently titled 7 — expands on his versatile bag of tricks. Less of an alt-country troubadour than a seasoned pop songwriter, Whitlow has an idiosyncratic voice and slightly bent melodic sense that benefit from drummer and engineer John Bersuch, bassist Jeff Harshbarger, saxophonist Mark Southerland and violist Laurel Morgan (among others). With Whitlow's open-tuned acoustic guitar at the forefront, 7's slower numbers ("Banda Lou" and "Tattered Tune") strike a mood reminiscent of Beck's Sea Change. "On My Way to See Aimee Mann" sounds like something from the Chris Stamey/dB's songbook, while "Vanilla Stoli" could have been politely taken from Alex Chilton. But the best reason to spin this disc isn't for its sincere flatteries; it's because Whitlow writes some damn fine tunes of his own. — Richard Gintow, The Pitch