[3] By the age of 11, he was playing Italian folk music, accompanying two accordion-playing uncles on guitar and mandolin.

[5] Charles Alexander, writing in Jazzwise, states that Forcione has "influences ranging from flamenco to Balkan and from Arabic to American acoustic guitar styles, but he is thoroughly conversant with the jazz language.

"[6] Forcione names Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour as his "guitar heroes".

“I bought an oud but after 40 years of playing the guitar I struggled to adjust my technique to an unfretted instrument with different spacings.

Forcione composes and plays in genres such as folk, rock, jazz, Latin, and fusion.