"I've got tons of influences," says Forsey, whose speaking voice gives only a hint of the gritty edge with which he sings. "I listen to everything from jazz to folk to rock like John Hyatt, Dan Fogelberg, Clapton. And there are certain songwriters that blow my mind: Jackson Browne, Neil Young. And the Beatles, the Beatles kill me. "I can't listen to that new pop stuff, though." Ah yes, that new pop stuff.

It's probably good news for Forsey that so many avid listeners can't abide it either. They're that much more likely to pop into his upcoming gigs, like the two lined up this week at Barnes & Noble in Bethesda (Thursday) and Rockville (Saturday). Once there, they're in for a treat: Forsey is more than a fan of the giants of rock. He has taken the lessons of Don Henley and Stephen Stills and woven them into a sound that remains uniquely his own. Yes, his voice is evocative - one moment all edgy CSNY-esque harmony, the next as blues-growly as Bob Seger or even Joe Cocker. But his lyrics are unique and thought-provoking, and they help make Forsey sound like his own man. "A lot of my tunes are very personal," he says. "Every song comes from a place, or something I've experienced. And the music is basically rock and roll, acoustic based with more of a folk edge."

Forsey traces that edge back to rural Pennsylvania, where he was brought up in the tiny town of New Castle, just north of Pittsburgh. As he grew, his parents were always buying and spinning the hits of the day, an eclectic mix that exposed their boy to Englebert Humperdinck, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams. Then there were guitar lessons, started and stalled at age 7, but returned to later when a teen Forsey rekindled his love affair with music. It was to become an extended romance. "I took lessons here and there," he recalls, looking back on the solitary hours he spent picking up chords and the more sociable practice of playing in bands. "I was in a couple of different high school bands, and I got into the jazz band, too." It wasn't until college though, at Clarion University, that Forsey got serious. There he found other guys with a passion for rock and discovered the missing link: songwriting. "Around '86 or '87, I started looking more into myself and writing lyrics," he says, almost shyly. Rock and roll songs may be this generation's poetry, but no self-respecting rock and roll guy wants to talk about writing poems.Forsey writes them - good ones - and isn't afraid to admit it. "By my senior year, I started getting gigs and playing, not just classic rock but my own stuff." That was how it started; fans spoke encouraging words, a friend had a recording studio where a few tracks could be laid, the gigs pretty much continued. But Forsey got the proverbial "real job," and moved to Silver Spring to work in Comprint's advertising department. His music took a temporary back seat.

"Through the '90s I was playing in classic rock bands, with some acoustic gigs," Forsey explains. "I always stayed in touch." He was playing with a group called Three Play, with a musician named Raice McLeod, who also happened to be the drummer for the Eva Cassidy Band. And that is how Forsey hooked up with producer Chris Biondo, who produced Forsey's CD, "Another Chapter Down" last spring. Biondo played bass and keyboards on the CD, which features Benjie Porecki on the organ, Lenny Williams on piano, Kent Wood on electric piano, Dave Giegerich on dobro and steel guitar, Terry Mettam on guitars and harmony vocals, and the combined efforts of Raice McLeod, Todd McDaniel and William "Juju" House on drums.

"The record has elements of rock, blues and folk," Forsey says. "Those are the main roots, where all my stuff comes from. At heart, I'm much more comfortable with acoustic guitar ... but in the recording studio I took on a lot of roles." And showed talent in every one of them. Forsey shines through the speakers with this collection of modern musings delivered in a classic rock format. On "What Might Have Been," for example, Forsey reaches the heights with haunting lyrics, lonely harmonica, and vocals worthy of Axl Rose in his prime. Can he replicate the CD's rhythms and harmonies live this weekend?

"It's a completely different thing playing live," the singer admits. "It's a bit nerve-wracking, it's original, it's straight from the gut." In that sense, he seems to imply, a live gig could be even better than the polished sound of the CD. "Another Chapter Down's" Terry Mettam and Todd McDaniel will be on hand, along with Ben Pape on bass. They'll play cuts from the CD, which gets its name from its usefulness as a marker of the rock and roll dreams Forsey has harbored since childhood. "It's another chapter in my life," he explains, "another goal I've gone after and succeeded with. I'm just really trying to chug along." And isn't that what rock and roll is all about?

Tom Forsey plays at Barnes & Noble, 4801 Bethesda Ave. in Bethesda on Thursday, 8 to 10 p.m. Call 301-986-1761. He'll also play at Barnes & Noble, 12089 Rockville Pike in Rockville on Saturday, 8 to 10 p.m. Call 301-881-0237. Or visit http//www.t4crecords.com.