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Founded 05-05-05

Truth in Advertising—Ruthie Foster IS, in Fact, Phenomenal

Story by David Brewer

While preparing to record her most recent release, The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster in early 2007, Ruthie Foster sat on the floor of producer and fellow musician Papa Mali’s house and again absorbed the sounds of vintage soul records. Not CDs. Real vinyl. The music of artists such as Donny Hathaway, Bill Withers, Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke washed over the Austin-based folk artist like an ocean from her musical and personal past, giving her a sense of what her next recording would become.

It almost goes without saying that any artist audacious enough to self-title an album and use the word phenomenal in front of her name better be something special. Foster is truly something special. In two short solo appearances at last year’s MerleFest, Foster riled thousands of transfixed onlookers at the Creekside and Austin stages with her heartfelt, gospel-infused blues folk, earning her an invitation to this year’s festivities.

“It’s great to see so many people out at a festival like that,” said Foster. “I didn’t know what to expect. I finally got a chance to get invited and I didn’t want to pass that up.”

Armed only with her clear, powerful voice and a guitar, Foster’s gospel-powered vocal flights wowed crowds more accustomed to jaw-dropping mandolin solos than tent revival fervor.

“Energy is everything,” said Foster. “I really depend on the energy from a crowd. Even when it’s not quite coming at me in droves, I have a place I can go to that works for me.”

She didn’t have to go there. The audience came to Foster and stayed with her until she was done.

Foster may have been new to MerleFest audiences in 2007, but she’s certainly no newcomer to music. Phenomenal is the singer-songwriter’s fifth release dating back to her 1997 debut. After time spent in the Navy Pride Band and a less-than-awesome stint with Atlantic Records, Foster returned to her native Texas in the mid-1990s, where she began an artistic period that has taken her all over the world.

Musically, Foster’s songs have never strayed far from her gospel upbringing and love of the blues and folk that seem to flourish in the Texas heat. However, it’s the classic soul records that come shining through on Phenomenal’s 11 sanctified tracks.

“I think it was going back to that music that I fell in love with first,” said Foster. “[Making Phenomenal] was just a fabulous opportunity to put it all together.”

A bone-chilling a cappela gospel-style reading of Son House’s “People Grinnin’ In Your Face” and a masterfully patient turn on Lucinda Williams’ “Fruits of my Labor” fit nicely beside a set of emotional, personally revealing originals that simmer with the feeling of those classic soul sides Foster fell in love with so long ago.

While the supporting cast that so effectively fleshed out the often funky feel of Phenomenal won’t be accompanying Foster to Wilkesboro in a couple of weeks, fans will have no shortage of reasons not to miss a note of her performances on Friday and Saturday. Her voice and guitar are more than enough to keep folks from running off before her last glorious notes ring across the festival grounds.

For more info on Foster, click to www.ruthiefoster.com.