About the justin kemp band ...

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I began my journey in life being born in Beaumont, TX. To date, I have had the opportunity to live in many great cities in Texas, but the thick trees and dirt roads of Angelina County are some of my fondest memories. Angelina County is a place where weekend trail rides, hunting, fishing and country music run deep in your soul.

Growing up, music has always been a love of mine, although I never dreamed it would take me to where I am now. What started out as having fun playing music with some friends, turned into so much more with my introduction to Russell Shelby. As well as being a musician, he shared the same passion for music and entertainment as I do.

As a result of this meeting of our musical minds, we decided to put a group of musicians together and do our best to spread our love of music with songs people could dance and sing along to, whether it be old country, new country, classic rock, 50’s-60’s, or anything in between. Receiving the 2024 CMA of Texas Troubadour Award on October 18, 2023 at the Dosey Doe Barn in The Woodlands, TX inspired me to dive deeper and give my very best to the creation and performance of music. Whatever is on the menu, the Justin Kemp Band will deliver!

Forrest started playing Mandolin at the age of 5 because his hands were too small for the guitar, but boy did that change! Before he knew it, he and his sister were singing and playing in the Honky Tonks around Bullhead City, AZ and Laughlin, NV with their dad, Raymond, who taught him how to play. In '78, he won a talent contest at the The Palomino Club in Hollywood, CA. There, he caught the eye of Mel Tillis who wanted to take him on the road, but he was only 16 at the time.

Music stayed in his blood while in the Army, and afterwards he started making a living on stage. Even during his short outlaw stint, he was making music with the boys. After a long term of coast-to-coast road work with a variety of bands, he has now settled down in Pasadena, TX.

A few years ago, his friend of 35 years, Russell Shelby, the drummer for the Justin Kemp Band called and said they were looking for a solid, dynamic and entertaining lead guitarist...and Forrest Barber is all that and a bag of chips!

At the ripe age of 9, I got my first kit. And by the age of 15, I was playing with other musicians. And by 17 years of age, I was married and waiting on a baby to arrive. This is when I met Gene Kelton, and we played country for about a year. He hated it! But I was making $25/night. I thought I was big time getting paid to play drums!

When I turned 18, I joined the US Army and was in the Army from 1977 to 1980. Once I was home, I ran across Gene again. This is when the blues music began for me. Thirty years I played with Gene, sometimes on and sometimes off, but mostly on.

Also during this same period, when I wasn’t playing with Gene, I played with many great bands: Reckless Kelly, Kevin Fowler, Stoney Larue, Los Lonely Boys, Black Oak Arkansas, and many more. In 2010 I was in Fort Worth with a band called, Shalako, when I got the call that Gene was gone – he was killed in an auto accident.

Back home, I started my own band – Twisted Outlaw. This band lasted for 7 years before we each went our own ways. After that, I played with whomever called and stayed busy including playing with the Forever Brothers. Fifty years later, I have had the privilege of playing all over the Eastern states, headlining on big stages with acts like Cody Johnson, Kevin Fowler, Los Lonely Boys, Reckless Kelly, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Oak Arkansas, Marshall Tucker Band, Aaron Tippin, John Anderson, and many, many more to include lots of local bands. 

MUSIC IS LIFE. And now I’m the drummer for the Justin Kemp Band.

A highlight of those 50 years was receiving the 2024 CMA of Texas Joe Deleon Drummer Award this past October (2023) at their annual awards show at the Dosey Doe Barn in The Woodlands. It was also a very good night for Justin Kemp, who received the 2024 CMA of Texas Troubadour Award. And this year is a great one with a full schedule of shows.

PJ's love for music came to him at a time when 12-year-olds were figuring out what to do when they grew up, upon realizing that becoming Spiderman was not attainable. And with that he set his sights on a different path. 

One summer Sunday morning at church with his Nanna in Centerville, Texas, he witnessed a gentleman playing a trumpet. It was right then he knew that was what he was going to do. And as fate would have it, when he went to his first music class, his Band Director was the trumpet player that had inspired him! Orlando Juarez, "Mr. J" would be his music mentor all the way through Junior High and College. 

PJ started playing bass when he was 15 after seeing Mr. J's Christian Rock Band and was blown away by the bass player. Knowing music theory and how to read music at an early age, he taught himself how to play the Bass guitar. Practicing more than 8 hours a day, and after less than 1 year, he was recognized and awarded by the National Association of Jazz Educators for outstanding performance on the Bass. He would win that award again his Senior year. 

Over the summers of his Junior and Senior years, he studied with Dr. Rick Lawn at the University of Texas, where Dr. Lawn granted scholarships to perform with the UT Jazz Ensemble. PJ would later get a full ride to Sam Houston to play both trumpet and bass. It was during this time he started performing with live bands that set the course for the future. PJ's first band was Dale Novak and Bustin' Loose. They would later become the KIKK band for the radio station with the same call letters. He has worked with Jason Allen, Keith Smith, Kevin Adams, Big John Mills, Brandon Smith, Rob Saint, and countless other local musicians around the Houston area. He has opened for the biggest names in show business, from Merle Haggard to The Commodores - the list is countless. 

In late 1999, he was brought in by his cousin and fellow musician, Tim Nichols, to form the super group, Derringer. The band consisted of Kevin Peikert, Ryan Aguliar, Steve Haygood, Shannon Sharp, Tim Nichols and PJ Nichols. They would go on to  write and record, "Here in the Dark," which was released in 2001. The Band went on to achieve much regional success. In addition, PJ has served as music minister at various churches throughout his career; serving at The Woodlands United Methodist Church. The music minister at the time was a young Chris Tomlin, now the most covered artist in the world. As it has been said, PJ is AKA as "Twisted Steel and Sex Appeal" and is now the driving force for the rhythm section of the JKB, and will bring his pocket grooves to make you move on the dance floor!!!

Web started with classical violin lessons at 11 years old, continuing into conservatory after high school; he still continues to work at classical pieces with other classical music performers in the Houston area.

He started playing guitar in his teens and started his music career sitting in with Bill Haley and the Comets many years ago. That experience proved to be intoxicating, leading him to work as a lead guitar and fiddle player in various New England road bands in the 1970s. 

He got his first pedal steel, a Sho-Bud, in the late 70s. And he immensely enjoys immersion in the pedal steel, with its endless learning curve, while also staying active in classical violin as well as dabbling in saxophone. 

Web has played pedal steel behind many artists in the Texas Louisiana area since moving to Houston in the late 1990s.