![\"Issue38-ruthie-foster\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Issue38-ruthie-foster.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nIt\u2019s midnight in Vienna on the eve of Ruthie Foster\u2019s European tour with blues guitarist Eric Bibb. The blues-folk singer ought to be jet-lagged after a transatlantic flight earlier that day, but she\u2019s yet to feel it. \u201cI\u2019m actually OK,\u201d she says. \u201cFeeling pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has good reason to feel cheery. Foster\u2019s last three albums\u20142009\u2019s The Truth According to Ruthie Foster, 2012\u2019s Let It Burn, and her recently released Promise of a Brand New Day\u2014garnered Grammy nominations for Best Blues Album. She also landed three consecutive Blues Foundation Blues Music Awards from 2010 through 2012, an Austin Music Award in 2013, and a Koko Taylor Award that same year.<\/p>\n
Foster\u2019s on a roll\u2014yet she keeps perspective on the accolades. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be recognized,\u201d says Foster, 50, \u201cbut my real goal is to work hard and bring my best to my audiences.\u201d She brings her best on Promise of a Brand New Day. \u201cI wrote a lot more for this record,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to go deeper into the blues and genuine soul. Meshell was all about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foster\u2019s referring to noted bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, who produced and played on the record as well as assembled the musicians, including guitarist Doyle Bramhall II and singer Toshi Reagon. The project found both women exploring new stylistic terrain. \u201cShe works in a totally different genre than anything I do,\u201d Foster says. \u201cBut the blues is in her blood as much as it is in mine. She asked me where I wanted to go with this record, and I told her I wanted to say something meaningful. And she helped me with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foster\u2019s determination to make a social statement is evident on the record. \u201cI hadn\u2019t done much of that before, but I knew it was time,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to express things in my own voice. \u2018It Might Not Be Right,\u2019 the song I wrote with William Bell, addresses gay marriage, and \u2018Second Coming\u2019 brings a specific message about civil rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeshell was great about pushing me to write about who I am\u2014as a black woman, a woman who\u2019s involved with another woman, a woman who has a child, and a musician who spends a lot of time on the road. This album hit on a lot of themes that deal with real life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born and raised in Gause, Texas, Foster descended from a long line of gospel singers, a legacy that continues to inform her music. \u201cThey were Missionary Baptists,\u201d she reflects. \u201cThat\u2019s where I gained my first musical awareness. I experienced a very strict view of gospel while growing up, going back to my pre-teen years when I travelled from church to church in central Texas as a guest vocalist. Surprisingly, the church congregation I grew up with was very forgiving when it came to what I wanted to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandmother, a church matriarch, supported me when I wanted to sing contemporary gospel, and play guitar and piano. My mother was also very supportive. She knew I would always remember my roots. And I do. I respect where I came from, and it\u2019s all a part of my makeup. It all started there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The life lessons still resonate. \u201cIt gets to a point where you are who you are, and you get busy with living and not worrying about what others think,\u201d she says. It\u2019s hard to do that in the world we\u2019re living in right now. I\u2019ve spent so much time in front of people, not necessarily hiding who I am, but just trying to develop my career.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m at a point now where I can say, \u2018This is my life\u2014and while it\u2019s not all that I am, it is what I do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Lee Zimmerman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RUTHIE FOSTER On her latest set, the blues virtuosa has a lot to say\u2014in her own voice It\u2019s midnight in Vienna on the eve of Ruthie Foster\u2019s European tour with blues guitarist Eric Bibb. The blues-folk singer ought to be jet-lagged after a transatlantic flight earlier that day, but she\u2019s yet to feel it. \u201cI\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[7665,3141],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14739,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14737\/revisions\/14739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}