The 31st Annual Northern Rockies Folk Festival will feature as its headliner a country musician who can rock a stadium if need be.
Originally a songwriter and then member of a duo, Radney Foster has spent the past 15 years carving out a solo career as singer/songwriter.
The legend goes that as a child in Del Rio, Texas he began writing songs at age 7 and playing guitar by age 12. After college he headed to Nashville, where he signed with MTM as a staff songwriter.
"It was relatively easy," he said by phone from New York City. "I was signed at 25 as a new young buck. I failed miserably as a staff person. You couldn't get your paycheck unless you went to songwriters meeting on Monday morning where they told you who needed what kind of song. Finally, I had a smart publisher, who said, 'I just want you to do what you do. I like what you do. You guys (Bill Lloyd, another songwriter on staff) have a thing and you need to write together. That ended up being the duo Foster & Lloyd."
They put out three albums together and charted nine singles on the country charts.
"I don't think RCA knew what to do with us at that time, he said. "We were playing country and punk at the same time. There were other musicians who had these country deals. We played the same bars as people like Steve Earle. A rock club one weekend and the next week we'd be opening for George Straight."
They split up amicably in early 1992, and both went to pursue solo careers.
"I was I felt like I was moving into a different direction," he said. "To borrow a Gram Parson's quote, I want country things really country and rock things to really rock."
His first solo album, "Del Rio, Texas, 1959," came out in 1992. It produced two consecutive Top Ten hits in its first two singles: "Just Call Me Lonesome" and "Nobody Wins."
Today, his music is alt-country with an emphasis on earnest, charming and insightful songwriting:
"Half of my mistakes I made stone cold sober/Half of my mistakes I made at closing time/Half the time I never saw it coming 'til it was over/Half of my mistakes I made with love on the line."
From all reports his live shows are absolutely dynamite and his backing band gets raves. They are: Eric Borash on electric guitar, Jefferson Crow on keyboards, Keith Brogdon on drums, Georgia Middleman on vocals and engineer Justin Tocket.
Foster still works different angles, from pop and rock to traditional country to classic by style R&B.
"Look at guys who've been around like Neil Young," he said. "They're always stretching boundaries of what they're capable of doing."
His influences change depending on who he's listening to, he said. "But I can't get away from The Beatles, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and Buck Owens, or, equally, people like Elvis Costello and a whole host of others. If I didn't have a 17-year old I wouldn't have heard of Jimmy Eats World."
Though his family is in Austin and San Antonio, Foster lives in Nashville, but often returns home where he plays some clubs and works with others. He has produced albums for Randy Rogers, Jack Ingram and this "new guy who is really great, Brandon Rhyder," he said.
And of course his songs are still covered by other artists. In 2007, his songs were on several different albums: "Drunk on Love" by Brooks and Dunn (from Cowboy Town), "Half of My Mistakes" by Gary Allan (from Living Hard), "Measure of A Man" by Jack Ingram (from This Is It), "Come In From The Cold" by Marc Broussard (from SOS), "Raining on Sunday" by Keith Urban (from his Greatest Hits), "Real Fine Place To Start" by Sara Evans (from her Greatest Hits), "Before I Knew Your Name" and "No One Stays In Love Alone" by Brandon Rhyder.
"That's a good thing," he laughed. "I like when other people record my songs. I have kids to send to college."
Radney Foster Photo by
