THE first time I saw Tom and Ola Forbes was on the eve of my mother's funeral when I traveled to her hometown of Washington, North Carolina. Her husband and I were sharing memories at the bar in the Old Curiousity Shop, while off in the corner two men played softly. I moved closer to listen, and realized that this was the real thing. I knew right then and there that we needed to commit this music to tape in order to preserve a part of our American heritage - a legacy that has come down to us through the centuries from one porch to the next, from valley to hillcrest, county to county. WHEN I returned to New York, I called my old friend, Matt Susskind - a brilliant recording engineer - and filled him in on my plan. Two days later, we found ourselves in a truck on the highway carrying recording equipment towards the Mason Dixon line. Washington, NC is a tiny hamlet tucked behind the Pamlico Sound - a once major inlet along the Central Atlantic coast. Rich in resource, history and culture, this marshland "Low-country" is a treasure trove of Americana. Here is a community where people care about one another; here is a land where heritage has meaning. OVER the course of a long weekend, Matt and I set up shop in a beautiful Southern mansion set on a narrow cove and recorded the Forbes Brothers as they played and talked about the music on this record. We let the tape run for hours and hours, in the end gleaning the music we thought best captured both the Brothers and the genre. In the interest of musical continuity, we deleted most of the story telling - perhaps we'll include it on a future release - but we believe that the real story is in the music. SO, here you have one of the most honest, live recordings of a genre nearly lost in time. The Forbes Brothers' music is the truth; it speaks of the common man. Their ballads tell of lost love, torn hearts and broken dreams, but you'll also hear a conviction to rise above the fray - the will to overcome and the innate human ability to find happiness against all odds. "Ola and I were born in extreme poverty. The Forbes family - grandfather - had land, but my father was a hunter. He made his living on coon hides, hounds and fighting cocks. He was fine, caring and loving until we reached nine years old. Then he changed. Became very brutal - loud, old-time religion. Mother played the piano - classical. The piano was our only touch of grace in old houses fit only for rats. Her playing rattled the tin and loose windows, and calmed my terror. "IN 1945 my father rented a dairy - 40 cows. Ola and I milked, fed, cared for this herd for five years until I left. From four miles up the Tar River, a night spot in Greenville played Hank Williams on loud speakers, which we heard at the dairy barn. All the old country flowed down-river through the swamp to the barn. We learned to sing lots of those songs - Clark's Place put a sad song in our hearts. We've been getting them out ever since." OLA is a preacher, Tom is a farmer. Both men are true American artists that have kept their medium pure and honest. Twins born in the poverty of the 1930s, the Forbes Brothers are survivors of difficult lives and tumultuous times. "I once thought where I was was a place. Now I look back and see no place, but only a time. Fast-forward outruns our spirit, and there's a time we'd love to touch again, if for only a moment. I've always loved songs and music that could take me there again; they are my hidden energy," wrote Tom. THE twins are telegraph lines to another time; a time, perhaps, when civil war nearly tore our country in half; a time when a depression left us broke and beaten, when world wars called us to arms; a time when assassination was our daily news, a time when wars in Asia divided a people strong with opinion. The Forbes Brothers have lived through nearly all of these eras and they have collected the music that colors our history. Virtually unchanged over a century, this music has now been preserved for you to hear. Tom's plaintive dobro, crystalline and on the edge of sadness accompanies Ola's strong rhythm guitar and world-weary voice. They speak of coal mines, new love, industry, religion, and community - the subjects of our daily lives. ONE more thing . . . In my mother's name, I've started a foundation, of sorts, to benefit child-abuse prevention programs - The Marion F. Griswold Charitable Trust for the Prevention of Child Abuse. All of the net proceeds from the sale of this compact disc will be donated to the Trust. Thank you for helping us to educate parents and shelter children from this pervasive societal disease. Only with widespread awareness can we restore to every childhood the innocence and joy we were all meant to share. Tom wrote to me recently, "Ola and I know too much about child abuse; since we were twins, we got to see each other bleed and plead. Your mother would be very proud." Now, sit back on your porch swing and let the music take you. David Leonard November 10, 2000 New York, NY