Vancouver Sun & Times Colonist, June 13:
Foster brings gospel to her soul sounds
Austin-based artist made subtle shift after playing at legendary
Ardent Studios in Memphis
BY ADRIAN CHAMBERLAIN, CANWEST NEWS SERVICEJUNE 13, 2009
RUTHIE FOSTER BAND
(Opening for the Blind Boys of Alabama)
Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
Centre for Performing Arts
Tickets $59.75 from
ticketmaster.ca- - -
Folk-soul singer Ruthie Foster adored the atmosphere at Ardent Studios
in Memphis.
That's where she recorded her 2009 disc, The Truth According to Ruthie
Foster. For a vocalist who digs gospel and soul, Ardent was a dream
come true. Among the legends who have recorded there: Sam and Dave,
Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Leon Russell, Steve Cropper and Bob
Dylan.
Not only that, Texas-born Foster was able to collaborate with the
crème-de-la-creme of Southern soul masters. These included keyboardist
Jim Dickinson -- who performed on Aretha Franklin's Spirit in the Dark
and on the Rolling Stones' Wild Horses -- and organist Charles Hodges,
who played on such definitive Al Green tracks as Love and Happiness.
The atmosphere at Ardent was sometimes . . . almost sacred.
"Charles is a reverend now," said Foster, 45, who was poised to board
a van in Austin for a Dallas gig. "When Reverend Hodges walks into the
place, it becomes a totally different feel."
Known for years as a rootsy folk artist, Foster shifted more to
rockier, gospel-influenced soul for her last two albums: The Truth
According to Ruthie Foster and 1997's The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster.
The title of the latter tips its hat to soul sister Franklin, who in
1962 released The Electrifying Aretha Franklin.
Foster says recording with Memphis musicians at Ardent was a subtle
shift.
"It's like moving from the front porch to the back porch," she said.
"The music is familiar to me. But it has a depth to it. It's just
another side. It's not so gospel for me. It's deep soul."
Foster is routinely compared to Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald, yet on
The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster, she displays an earthy, unforced gospel
style that recalls Mavis Staples. Although rooted in soul and gospel,
the album is surprisingly diverse. It ranges from Foster's own
composition Stone Love -- '70s-style soul goosed along by overdriven
Wurlitzer electric piano -- to the reggae-inflected I Really Love You,
to When It Don't Come Easy, a folkier effort that recalls Tracy
Chapman and Melissa Etheridge.
Foster hails from Gause, a small Texas town. As a child she loved
music, whether it was the hymns her mom taught her or Beatles songs
she learned to play on guitar. The musical DNA running through the
home was blues and even more, gospel. Foster recalls hearing oodles of
Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson. Later, as a teen singing in
a gospel choir, she listened to contemporary gospel vocalists such as
Andrae Crouch and Edwin (Oh Happy Day) Hawkins.
In college, Foster played in a blues band that worked at tough Texas
biker bars. A stint in the U.S. navy followed, but even in the service
she pursued music. Foster joined Pride, a navy band specializing in
Top 40 and funk. Eventually, she moved to New York, where folk club
gigs led to a publishing and performing contract with Atlantic
Records. "It definitely felt like I was living the dream," Foster said.
Atlantic was, after all, known for such classic R&B acts as Ray
Charles, Ruth Brown and Aretha Franklin.
But somehow, it fizzled out. On learning her mother was ill, Foster
returned to Texas to care for her.
Today, Foster -- an established Austin-based artist -- cannot say
whether she'll continue her present deep-soul path.
"If I focus too much on one thing, it feel like its creating a void
[in me], a hole," she said. "These days, I try desperately to stay in
the present. Because that's what's the music's about."
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