Tom The Suit Forst in the Norwalk Hour: Retired Sales Executive Trades in C-Suite for Center Stage

NORWALK — After two decades in the corporate world, Tom Forst had had enough.

So when his wife told him they’d finally paid off the last of their children’s college tuition, his response, naturally, was, “I’m quitting.”

That was eight years ago. Back when he had a tight haircut and wore a full suit to work every day. Back when the idea of playing music full time was nothing more than a daydream supplied by a memory.

With the blessing of his wife, Forst gave his six months notice — as it turns out, you don’t just “quit” when you’re the regional vice president of sales at Cox Communications — and returned to a life he always knew he’d find again someday.

"I think if I have a message it’s that you should never give up on your dreams,” Forst said. “The dream was always to start again. It never occurred to me that being older would be a problem, and it hasn’t been.”

Forst, now 65, will release his first solo album, “On Fire,” Jan. 14. Produced by Grammy-winning guitarist, producer and songwriter Paul Nelson and recorded at Norwalk’s Factory Underground, the album features musicians from the Johnny Winter Band, Popa Chubby Band, Allman Brothers Band, Saturday Night Live Band and Steven Colbert Band.

Known as “The Suit,” Forst hasn’t given up his corporate identity entirely. Though a little more eccentric, his face framed by shoulder-length gray hair and classic Chuck Taylor’s on his feet, he still dons a suit jacket everywhere he goes. Some are more flamboyant, decorated with elaborate embroidery, and others are classic, well-fitting and subtle.

His 11 track blues-rock album also features the songwriting of Forst’s longtime friend, the late Gary Youell of Norwalk, whose suggestion that Forst cut a song about a world where women have taken over was the inspiration for a single Forst plans to release in January called “Women of the World.”

“He came to me and said, ‘The world is such a mess. What if women took over the world instead of the good old boys?’ And that’s how we came up with this song,” Forst said.

The father of two daughters, he said the song was also informed by their experiences as women of the world, as well as the glass ceilings he saw in the corporate world.

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