Jarret Forrester, a freshman music industry major, is in the process of releasing his first country music album titled “That’s Where I Come From,” which will be filled with original music based on life experiences.

Forrester, who is from Greer, S.C., became interested in music from a young age.

“Everyone in my family is into all different genres of music, so I grew up listening to jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, country, pop and blues,” Forrester said.

At the age of 9, he became interested in chorus after seeing fliers for chorus auditions posted around his elementary school.

“After I saw it I went straight to the music room the next day, sang the audition piece, ‘My Country Tis of Thee,’ and made it,” Forrester said.

Originally, country music was not Forrester’s favorite choice of genre.

“Actually, I first started out wanting to play rock music,” Forrester said. “However, as I began to learn more about my voice through chorus, I realized that I was more suited for country music.”

Singing wasn’t the only thing that captured Forrester’s heart from a young age.

“My papa used to play the guitar all the time, and I specifically remember walking into his house when I was 8 or 9 and watching him play these amazing blues licks on his Les Paul guitar,” Forrester said. “I knew I wanted to be able to do that.”

Forrester taught himself tablature and talked to more experienced musicians about their techniques. Eventually singing and playing the guitar snowballed into a concrete dream of turning his passion into a career.

After about a year of playing guitar, he began writing his own material. Forrester said the creative process of writing music comes naturally for him.

“I remember sitting down and just playing chords until I started to get a feel for what I wanted to say,” Forrester said. “Once that happened, I just let the lyrics flow through me and eventually wrote my first song, ‘Tennessee’ three days before my first show.”

After that he was hooked.

“I love the ability that I have on stage to influence people through my music,” Forrester said. “I get to bring them back to a memory and help them relive and enjoy it.”

Scheduled to release next summer, “That’s Where I Come From,” is filled with all original content based on Forrester’s life and the stories of those closest to him.

His most well-known song, “In That Tree,” is based on his brother’s relationship with their father. Forrester said when he wrote “In That Tree,” he woke up and started messing around with a tune that he thought of ,and within 10 minutes the song was written.

Forrester plays in his own band, Crownless Kings. His music can be heard on his Facebook and YouTube pages, where he uploads his newest songs.