Forrester was born near Vernon, in Hickman County, Tennessee, into a family of many fiddlers; his father, grandfather, and uncle all played the fiddle.
[1] When Herald Goodman of the Vagabonds formed another act called the Tennessee Valley Boys, Forrester was soon to join up.
[3] He and Herald Goodman received an offer in 1939 to join the Saddle Mountain Roundup radio show in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
[1] In 1943, he was drafted and had to leave the band (he was replaced by Jim Shumate) but his wife Billie "Sally Ann" Forrester remained with Monroe[4] as his sole accordion player until 1945.
In 1960, he recorded a solo album called Fancy Fiddlin' Country Style for the MGM subsidiary Cub label.